Rishi Sunak and Akshata Murty: Their Million Dollar Love Story

Rishi Sunak and Akshata Murty have been under the internet spotlight after Rishi Sunak took the charge as the next prime minister of the United Kingdom. The former Treasury chief will be Britain’s first leader of colour and faces the task of stabilising the party and country at a time of economic and political turbulence.

Sunak became the first Indian-origin Prime Minister of the United Kingdom on Monday, October 24.

Sunak became the Prime Minister less than two months after he lost to Liz Truss in the election race. Truss will step down today, October 25 and Sunak will become the Prime Minister. He will ask King Charles III for symbolic permission to form a government.

Rishi Sunak and Akshata Murty have been in the news since the pandemic. He has already been termed as a 'political rising star' after he stepped into the race to be the next Prime Minister. Sunak was recently in the news for coming to his wife and in-laws' defence, in connection with his wife Akshata Murty's tax affairs.

Talking about the tax controversy that made headlines a while ago, Rishi Sunak stated, “So, I've always been a completely normal UK taxpayer; my wife is from another country so she's treated differently, but she explained that in the spring and she resolved that issue. There is a commentary about my wife's family's wealth. So, let me just address that head-on because I think it’s worth doing because I'm actually incredibly proud of what my parents-in-law built."

Rishi Sunak and Akshata Murty: Their Love Story.

Rishi Sunak and Akshata Murty's love story goes way back. The couple has now been married for more than a decade. Akshata and Rishi reportedly met in college. The duo was studying at Stanford at the time when Rishi had earned a Fulbright scholarship and Akshata was ‘an artistic and fashion-loving student'. She is the daughter of Narayana and Sudha Murthy, one of India’s richest, and the founder of Infosys.

Akshata has been featured by Vogue India and owns Akshata Designs. She stated, "I'm about the story behind a particular garment, its authenticity, craftsmanship, and protecting a rich heritage." She is also currently the marketing director of Tendris, a Dutch cleantech Incubator Fund. Akshata's father Narayan Murthy took his time to warm up to his son-in-law. He has earlier mentioned in a letter he wrote to his daughter, “when I met Rishi and found him to be all that you had described him to be – brilliant, handsome and, most importantly, honest – I understood why you let your heart be stolen.”

The couple married in a simple yet elegant ceremony, in Bangalore in 2009, in the Chamaraja Kalyana Mantapa, Jayanagar, and the reception was held at The Ballroom, Leela Palace Hotel, Old Airport Road, Bangalore. The guestlist included Azim Premji, Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, Anil Kumble, Nandan M Nilekani, Captain G.R. Gopinath, Prakash Padukone, Syed Kirmani and Girish Karnad, among many others. The couple now has two daughters Krishna and Anoushka.

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