Rishi Sunak and Akshata Murty climb 'Sunday Times Rich List' with Infosys shares

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and wife Akshata Murty, who made their debut in the annual 'Sunday Times Rich List' two years ago, have moved up the ranks in the 2024 edition released on Friday (May 17) thanks to Murty's lucrative Infosys shareholding.

"The couple's most valued asset is Akshata Murty's shareholding in Infosys, a Bangalore-based IT company co-founded by Akshata Murty's father [Narayan Murthy]," reads the newspaper's analysis.

The couple, both 44, have risen from 275th rank last year to 245th with an estimated wealth of651 million pounds, making them the "wealthiest people to call 10 Downing Street home".

Akshata Murty's earnings are said to far exceed that of her husband as financial statements published in February revealed thatSunak made 2.2 million pounds in 2022-23 compared to Murty's estimated 13 million pounds in dividends over the past year.

"Over the past year, the shares have grown in value by 108.8 million pounds to nearly 590 million pounds. The latest annual report suggests that Murty received about 13 millionpounds in dividends during that time - adding to the more than a million pounds she has been paid in previous years. She is poised to receive another 10.5 millionpoundsthis year," the paper notes.

Top of the list is British-Indian businessman Gopi Hinduja and his family, whose fortune of 37.2 billionpoundsis the greatest in the ranking's history, followed by Sir Leonard Blavtanik and David and Simon Reuben and family, who have fortunes of 29.2 billionpoundsand 24.9 billion pounds, respectively.

"It has been a year of expansion through acquisition for the group, made possible in part by growing stock market valuations of the family's main listed holdings, which have risen to a total of 8.7 billion pounds," reads the newspaper's analysis.

The top 10 of the 2024 'Sunday Times Rich List' sees another set of India-born brothers, David and Simon Reuben, build on their wealth to rise to third place from last year's fourth, with a fortune estimated at around 24.977 billion pounds.

At No. 8 is NRI tycoon of ArcelorMittal steelworks Lakshmi N. Mittal, who slippedtwo places from last year with an estimated 14.921 billion pounds, followed by Vedanta Resources' industrialist Anil Agarwal at No. 23 with an estimated 7 billion pounds - down one rank from 2023.

Other Indian-origin billionaires on the 2024 list include textiles entrepreneur Prakash Lohia at No. 30 with an estimated 6.23 billion pounds; retail majors Mohsin and Zuber Issa at No. 39 with 5 billion pounds; and pharma chiefs Navin and Varsha Engineer at 58 with 3 billion pounds .

Among the top 100 richest Britons are brothers Simon, Bobby and Robin Arora at No. 65 with 2.682 billion pounds and leading NRI industrialist Lord Swraj Paul and family ranked 67th with an estimated wealth of 2.6 billion pounds - same as last year.

Fashion industrialist Sunder Genomal, a new entrant in 2023, is ranked 77th with a fortune estimated at 2.214 billion pounds, with hoteliers Jasminder Singh and family coming in at 83 with 2.001 billion pounds .

On the whole, the 36th edition of the rich list reveals the largest fall in billionaires in its history - down from a peak of 177 in 2022 to 165 this year.

"This year's Sunday Times Rich List suggests Britain's billionaire boom has come to an end. Many of our home-grown entrepreneurs have seen their fortunes fall, and some of the global super-rich who came here are moving away," said the list's compiler, Robert Watts.

However, moving from millionaire to billionaire on the tally is former Beatle Sir Paul McCartney - now the first UK musician to achieve that status after boosting his wealth by 50 million pounds over last year.

(With inputs from agencies)