On Friday, UK’s Finance Minister Rishi Sunak and his wife Akshata Murty made their debut in the annual Sunday Times Rich List, ranking 222 with a combined wealth of GBP 730 million on a list headed by the Hinduja brothers of Indian descent, who have a fortune of GBP 28.472 billion.
Sunak, a British-born politician married to the daughter of Infosys co-founder N R Narayana Murthy, is the first frontline politician to emerge in the analyses’ 34-year history of the UK’s wealthiest.
The 42-year-old Indian-origin finance minister worked as a hedge fund manager before joining the Conservative Party and being elected to Parliament in 2015.
Why did Sunak’s Ambitions crash?
Sunak, 42, was once hailed as the next Prime Minister, a polished successor to the floundering Boris Johnson. According to The Sunday Times Rich List, the Chancellor’s ambitions were derailed last month by the revelation that his wife, Akshata Murty, was a non-dom, a status that allows those who have their permanent home (domicile) outside the UK to pay tax only on earnings earned in this country, as well as an annual charge of GBP 30,000.
It is worth noting that Murty owns 0.93 percent of Infosys in her own person, a stake worth around GBP 690 million.
Over the last seven and a half years, it should have paid out almost GBP 54 million in dividends, including GBP 11 million in 2021. Murty would have been responsible for GBP 20.6 million in UK tax on these payments if she didn’t have the non-dom status. According to the story, she has now agreed to pay tax on her dividends in 2021.
Murty declared last month that she will pay UK taxes on all of her income, including that from India, in order to keep the controversy about her non-dom status from distracting her husband.
Sunak had strongly defended his wife, and an independent ministerial ethics advisor to the UK government has subsequently awarded him a clean chit on the matter.
Hindujas Richest
Meanwhile, Sri and Gopichand Hinduja and family, who had slipped to third place last year, have returned to the top of the ‘Sunday Times Rich List’ rankings, with the largest wealth recorded in the list’s history.
The Hinduja dynasty may not be peaceful, but their commercial empire has had a good year, according to the newspaper, despite a rumoured family quarrel. A large portion of their money is invested in Indian stock exchange businesses. IndusInd Bank, situated in Mumbai, is currently worth GBP 4.545 billion to the family. After a successful year, their investment in Chennai-based car maker Ashok Leyland is worth GBP 2.663 billion, while the Hindujas’ interest in IT behemoth Hinduja Global Solutions is at GBP 1.283 billion. Other listed firms’ shares contribute another GBP 1.174 billion, as per the newspaper.
