London24NEWS

Slobby chic! Rishi’s wife Akshata Murty opts for £50 fur gilet as she moves back into No 10  

Slipper-ing to Downing Street! Rishi’s billionaire wife Akshata Murty dressed down in £42 White Company sliders and £50 faux fur H&M gilet as she moved back into No 10

  • Rishi Sunak’s multi-millionaire wife Akshata Murty spotted instructing movers
  • She donned a pair of £42 White Company faux fur sliders for the occasion 
  • Slipped on a cosy fur gilet which she paired with comfortable grey leggings
  • Preparing to move back into No10 Downing Street, where they previously lived

She may be the heiress with a billionaire father, but Rishi Sunak‘s wife ditched the designer labels over the weekend to show off her love of high street brands. 

Akshata Murthy, the daughter of Indian IT mogul Narayana Murthy, was snapped overseeing movers unpacking the family’s furniture into No10 on Saturday.

Ms Murthy, who is more often seen dressed up in designer labels, opted for a casual look for the occasion – pairing grey leggings, a light grey jumper and a £50 black fluffy H&M gilet with her £42 White Company faux fur sliders.

She was pictured overseeing workers from Bishop’s Move unloading what seemed to be an upright piano, a double mattress and a barbecue, as well as smaller boxes of possessions.

The Sunak family has chosen to return to the No10 flat – where they lived while Mr Sunak was Chancellor of the Exchequer – instead of moving into the more spacious flat in No11 as has been the custom for prime ministers since 1997, when Sir Tony Blair swept to power.

Rishi Sunak’s wife Akshata Murthy opted for a casual look to move over the weekend – pairing grey leggings, a light grey jumper and a £50 black fluffy H&M gilet with her £42 White Company faux fur sliders 

Akshata’s off-duty mum style included a pair of new White Company slippers.

Described online as ‘stylish and versatile’, the brand say they can be worn as ‘nightwear as loungewear and daywear’ and suitable for ‘milder weather’. 

Ms Murthy, who owns a £430million stake in her Indian tech billionaire father’s IT business, has raised eyebrows with her high-end wardrobe. 

In December 2020, the IT heiress wore a box-fresh pair of £445 Gucci trainers, a REDValentino shearling and leather coat costing £1,630 and a leather skirt worth more then £1,000, for a date night with her husband in upmarket Mayfair.

She was pictured overseeing workers from Bishop’s Move unloading what seemed to be an upright piano, a double mattress and a barbecue, as well as smaller boxes of possessions

Murthy’s Millions: Akshata’s family business portfolio 

  • Combined shareholding in tech firm Infosys worth £1.7billion
  • Joint venture with Amazon, Cloudtail, in India worth £900m-a-year
  • Shareholding in UK firm which runs Jamie’s Italian restaurants and burger chain Wendy’s in India
  • Also holds shares in Koru Kids and is director of Digme Fitness 
  • Murthy is a shareholder or director in five other UK companies, including Mayfair outfitter which makes Eton College pupils’ tailcoats costing £2,500 each 
  • Akshata is also listed as a director of the UK arm of software company, Soroco, co-founded by her brother 
  • Investment firm Catamaran Ventures owned by father N. R. Narayana Murthy
  • Ms Murthy runs fashion label Akshata Designs 

 

Advertisement

Mr Sunak and Ms Murthy have built up a joint fortune of £730million, the Sunday Times Rich List revealed in May, making him the first frontline politician to feature in the annual wealth rankings since its inception in 1989.

Mr Sunak made big money in the City of London before entering politics.

But the bulk of the cash is from his wife’s stake in IT giant Infosys, set up by her father N. R. Narayana Murthy, one of the richest men in India who has been described as the father of the Indian IT sector and ‘one of the 12 greatest businessmen of all time’.

Ms Murthy has enjoyed around £54million in dividends over the past seven and a half years alone. 

There was a furore after it emerged Ms Murthy had non-dom status, which typically applies to someone who was born overseas and spends much of their time in the UK but still considers another country to be their permanent residence or ‘domicile’.

It has been estimated Ms Murthy’s non-dom status could have saved her £20million in taxes on dividends. She later agreed to pay UK taxes on her worldwide income. 

Her family are also have a joint venture with Amazon worth £900million a year and shares in the firm running Jamie Oliver’s Jamie’s Italian and burger chain Wendy’s in India.

Before becoming Chancellor, Sunak was better known in India than he was in Britain, after he became a household name when he married Akshata.

The furore came after was revealed that Ms Murthy had non-dom status, which typically applies to someone who was born overseas and spends much of their time in the UK but still considers another country to be their permanent residence or ‘domicile’.

Rishi Sunak alongside his billionaire heiress wife Akshata Murty – by far the wealthiest occupants of Downing Street in history

Rishi Sunak and his wife Akshata (pictured at a campaigning event in Grantham in July) have two children, Krishna, 11, and Anoushka, nine

Speculation was rife over whether the family would revert to previous living arrangements, with Mr Sunak splitting his time between Downing Street and his house in west London.

In April Mr Sunak, his wife Akshata Murty, their daughters Krishna and Anoushka and family labrador Nova moved out to be closer to the children’s £22,000-a-year private school.

Coming around the same time that news emerged that Mr Sunak’s wife, Akshata Murty, had claimed ‘non-dom’ tax status, reportedly saving her millions, there was speculation the move was linked to a wish to avoid media attention, although Mr Sunak denied that at the time. 

But earlier this week, Mr Sunak’s press secretary told reporters: ‘They will be moving into the No 10 flat, where they used to live.’

Asked whether the family plans to redecorate the flat, his press secretary said: ‘Not that I’m aware of.’ 

It means that they will not live in the flat above No11, which was renovated by Boris Johnson and his wife Carrie for an estimated £200,000 in the so-called ‘wallpapergate’ scandal – which notoriously involved gold wallpaper that cost thousands of pounds.

However, Mr Sunak is still keeping the London townhouse, and if he wants to get away from Downing Street, he will be able to spend weekends at the Prime Minister’s official country estate, Chequers, with his family, as well as spending time at their London properties and their constituency home in North Yorkshire.

The extraordinary wealth of the wider family of Rishi Sunak’s billionaire heiress wife Akshata Murty has been laid bare