Rishi Sunak is set to become Britain’s next prime minister after Penny Mordaunt decided to drop out of the leadership race on Monday. On Sunday evening, his rival Boris Johnson dropped out of the race, citing his incapability to join forces with the Conservative Party.

Sunak, a Hindu descendant of immigrants from Britain’s old empire in India and East Africa is married to Akshata Murty.

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Who is Akshata Murty?

Born on April 1, 1980, Akshata Narayan Murty is an Indian fashion designer based in the United Kingdom. She is the daughter of N. R. Narayana Murthy, the founder of the Indian multinational information technology company Infosys, and Sudha Murthy.

Murty was raised by her paternal grandparents in Hubli while her father, N. R. Narayana Murthy, and mother, Sudha Murty, worked to launch their technology company, Infosys. Her mother was the first female engineer to work for India’s largest car manufacturer at the time; she is now a philanthropist and a member of the Gates Foundation. Her parents relocated her to Mumbai when she was two years old. Rohan Murty is her only sibling.

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Murty graduated from Baldwin Girls’ High School in Bangalore and went on to study economics and French at Claremont McKenna College in California. She also has a diploma in clothing manufacturing from the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising and a Master of Business Administration from Stanford University.

Murty wed Rishi Sunak in August 2009 after they met at Stanford University. They have two daughters Anoushka and Krishna. The two own Kirby Sigston Manor, a Grade II listed mansion in Kirby Sigston, Yorkshire, as well as a flat on Old Brompton Road. 

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Murty joined the Dutch cleantech company Tendris in 2007 as its marketing director, a position she held for two years before quitting to launch her own clothing company.

Her clothing line was shut down in 2012 She was appointed director of Catamaran Ventures’ venture capital fund in 2013. Together with her husband Rishi Sunak, she co-founded the London office of the Indian company that belongs to her father, N. R. Narayana Murthy. Sunak gave her his shares just before he was chosen as Richmond’s Conservative MP in 2015.

She owns 0.93% of Infosys. Her personal wealth became the subject of British media debate in 2022 as a result of her claiming non-domiciled status in the UK.