Sunak makes history as the first PM of colour and the richest-ever resident of Downing Street.

Net worth

Britain’s new Prime Minster Rishi Sunak will go down in the history books as he is the country’s first Prime Minster of colour and the youngest in recent centuries, taking charge at the age of 42.

He also broke the record for being the richest-ever resident of Downing Street, with a fortune estimated to be twice that of King Charles.

On Monday, Sunak replaced Liz Truss as leader of the U.K.’s Conservative Party. Prior to politics, eight years ago, he was an investment banker at Goldman Sachs and then a hedge fund manager. But he owes much of his wealth to his wife, Akshata Murty, a tech heiress whose father, N.R. Narayana Murthy, founded the Indian IT company Infosys.

According to the Sunday Times Rich List, the couple has an estimated net worth of £720 million ($844 million).

The vast majority of Murty’s fortune comes from her 0.93% stake in Infosys, which currently has a market value of approximately $75 billion.

Wealthier than King Charles?

Sunak and his wife’s personal fortune is more than twice the wealth of King Charles and his queen consort, which is estimated at about £370 million.

This estimate does not include the value of the wider crown estate, which includes a diversified portfolio of art works, buildings, fields, and forests worth billions of pounds. However, these are not owned by the King himself but held by the monarch only for the duration of their reign.  

It is the first time occupants of Downing Street have been wealthier than the occupants of Buckingham Palace. This history making comes at a time when million of people in the U.K. are facing a cost of living crisis, raising eyebrows over the Prime Minister’s ability to understand the experience of everyday Brits.

(Sources: CNBC.com, reuters.com)