How Rishi Sunak pursued billionaire heiress wife Akshata

Publish date: 2024-05-30

The Prime Minister met his wife at Stanford

Rishi Sunak and his wife Akshata Murthy are preparing to move into Downing Street after he was announced as the new UK Prime Minister following Liz Truss' six-week stint in office.

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The Conservative MP previously admitted to being a bit of a hopeless romantic and confessed that he pursued Akshata in university before the couple got married in 2009. Fast forward to today and the happy couple, who Forbes reports are worth a combined $810 million (£716 million), share two daughters, Krishna and Anoushka.

WATCH: Rishi Sunak addresses the nation for the first time as Prime Minister

Take a look at what we know about the politician's marriage…

Who is Rishi Sunak's wife Akshata Murthy?

Akshata is the daughter of Sudha, who became the first female engineer to work for car manufacturer TELCO, and Narayana Murthy, who is reportedly worth $4.5 billion and earnt his money as the founder of Bangalore-based Infosys. 

Not only does Akshata have a 0.93% stake in her father's digital services consulting firm, but she is also involved with the British branch Catamaran Ventures UK.

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Rishi met Akshata (pictured above with Rishi's parents) at Stanford

She also previously opened a fashion label called Akshata Designs in California in 2010, but it shut down two years later. 

Akshata studied at Claremont McKenna College and the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising before heading to Stanford University.

How did Rishi Sunak meet Akshata Murthy?

Rishi met Akshata while he was studying for an MBA at Stanford in California, and he knew immediately that there was "clearly something" between them. 

The couple share two daughters

He admitted to  he even changed his schedule "to be in a particular class" and spend more time with his future wife – how sweet!

"I didn’t really need to take it but I did it anyway so we could sit next to each other," he explained.

When did Rishi Sunak and Akshata Murthy get married?

The couple got married in a two-day wedding in Bangalore in 2009. Akshata reportedly wore a pink saree for the pre-wedding puja at Chamaraja Kalyana Mantapa, before changing into a vibrant orange outfit for the evening reception at Leela Palace Hotel.

What has Rishi Sunak said about his marriage?

King Charles welcomes Rishi Sunak at Buckingham Palace on Monday

They say opposites attract, and Rishi proved that is the case with his marriage confession! The 42-year-old revealed all the ways he is very different from his wife.

"I’m incredibly tidy, she’s very messy," he began. "I’m much more organised, she is more spontaneous ... she is not going to love me for saying this but I’ll be honest with you, she is not big on the whole tidying thing.

"She is a total nightmare, clothes everywhere ... and shoes ... oh God shoes …" he said.

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