Chancellor Rishi Sunak and Infosys-heiress wife Akshata Murty make Rich List with £730m fortune

Rishi Sunak and Akshata Murty have made the Sunday Times Rich List for the first time with their joint £730m fortune.

On Friday, the Rich List revealed they featured at 222nd place on the list, with the joint forecast of £730m driven by Ms Murty’s £690m stake in Infosys.

This comes after the Chancellor and his wife’s finances have come under intense scrutiny in recent months amid the UK’s cost-of-living crisis.

In April, it was revealed that Ms Murty 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.

It has been estimated Ms Murty’s non-dom status could have saved her £20m in taxes on dividends from her shares in Infosys, an Indian IT company founded by her father.

She later agreed to pay UK taxes on her worldwide income.

Sunak was cleared of breaching the ministerial code by Boris Johnson’s standards adviser after considering the tax affairs.

Deputy prime minister Dominic Raab told Times Radio: “Rishi Sunak is a fantastic example of someone who’s been successful in business who’s come in to make a big impact in public service.

“I think we want more of those people.

“I think it’s fantastic that you’ve got someone of British Indian origin, showing all people in our country that you can get to the top of politics.

“And frankly, I think if I understood correctly, The Sunday Times Rich List was a reflection of not just him, but his wife.

“And to be honest with you, his wife is an incredibly successful entrepreneur in her own right.”

The latest ranking of the 250 richest people in Britain also revealed a record 177 billionaires in the UK this year, up from 2021.

It comes as typical UK households come under increased financial pressure from rampant inflation, which struck a 40-year-high of 9% in April.

Overall, the richest 250 in the UK this year are worth £710.72bn, compared to £658.09bn in 2021, an 8% rise on last year, the Sunday Times said.