Akshata Murty loses over ₹500 crores in just one day as Infosys shares drop 9.4%

Akshata Murty, the wife of UK Chancellor Rishi Sunak, experienced a paper loss of approximately £49 million (over ₹500 crore) after shares in Infosys Ltd, the Indian software giant co-founded by her father, Narayana Murthy, dropped 9.4% on Monday. This was the biggest decline in share value for the company since March 2020.

The share price fell after Infosys Ltd's guidance painted a negative outlook for India's technology sector, prompting a wave of downgrades by brokers. Murty owns a 0.94% stake in the company, which is still worth more than £450 million.

This loss in wealth serves to emphasise the gulf between the chancellor and ordinary citizens who are struggling with the cost of living crisis. Although the paper loss is a fraction of the Sunak family's wealth, Murty’s wealth and outside interests have been a recurring theme in her husband’s political career.

The Sunaks refused to comment on the matter.

Last year, it emerged that she holds non-domicile status and hadn't been paying UK tax on overseas earnings. While she said that her arrangements were "entirely legal," she opted to start paying British taxes on those earnings.

In a separate development on the same day, Daniel Greenberg, the UK Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards, initiated an inquiry into whether Sunak had failed to declare a relevant interest regarding a minority stake owned by his wife in a childcare company. Sunak's office claimed that the interest had been "transparently declared," and that the prime minister would cooperate with Greenberg.

Last month, the prime minister disclosed details of his own financial affairs, revealing that he had paid over £1 million in UK taxes over the past three years. His earnings from shares and capital gains exceeded his political salary.

Sunak and Murthy are the richest ever occupants of 10 Downing Street. Murthy is the daughter of one of the founders of Indian IT giant Infosys and owns about 0.9% of the company, worth nearly $600 million based on Monday's share price.

(With inputs from Bloomberg)