From the First Family of Bengaluru to the First Lady of Great Britain: The Hidden Murthy | India News | Catch My Job

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Akshata Murthy, the First Lady of the United Kingdom, is a ‘namma hudugi’ (our girl) from Bengaluru. Born of a mother Sudha MurthyIn his hometown of Hubballi in northern Karnataka, few would have predicted that 42 years later the Indian national’s home would be 10 Downing Street.
After her schooling in Bengaluru, she moved to Claremont McKenna College in California where she majored in Economics and French and later graduated in Fashion Design from the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising in Los Angeles. She had short stints at Deloitte and Unilever before going on to pursue an MBA at Stanford where she met Rishi Sunak.

Of Murthy’s two children, Akshata has inherited the entrepreneurial genes of her famous family. “I come from a family of entrepreneurs — my mother from the social side through the world of foundations and my father from the corporate side.” I was raised with the view that entrepreneurship can change people’s lives,” Akshata was quoted as saying in an article on the Stanford Graduate School of Business website.
She grew up in a middle-class home in Jayanagar, a suburb of Bengaluru, with celebrations without birthdays or much pocket money. “She is a simple, family girl. Her middle-class upbringing kept her family’s value system intact,” said a source close to the family.

Akshata is fiercely private and has tried to keep as low a profile as possible. But her fashion choices and penchant for expensive clothes were paparazzi fodder in the UK. Her recent attempt to court the press by offering hot cups of tea to reporters waiting outside her London home caused a stir for the used £38 cups.

Rishi Sunak, the first British Prime Minister of Indian origin, is a story of many firsts

Rishi Sunak, the first British Prime Minister of Indian origin, is a story of many firsts

Her incredible fortune ($600 million), from her 1% stake Infosys, she almost derailed her husband’s prime ministerial ambitions in the last round. As an Indian citizen, Akshata opted for non-resident status which ensured that she did not have to pay UK tax on her income outside the UK. Although it was perfectly legal, it caused a storm when Akshata later agreed to renounce her homeless status and henceforth pay UK tax on all her income.
The couple have two children, Krishna and Anushka, and are frequent visitors to Bengaluru. They were last seen publicly in the city at their uncle Rohan Murthy’s wedding to Aparna Krishnan in November 2019. Sudha Murthy, a prolific writer, has dedicated her recent books to her two granddaughters.
Akshata’s love for fashion from her younger days surprised her engineer parents. This perhaps fueled her entrepreneurial ambitions and prompted her to work with local artisans in India and eventually launched Akshata Designs, a fashion label that preserves Indian traditions and craftsmanship in 2009. She graduated in 2013.

In 2013, Murthi’s family office Catamaran Ventures was established in the UK. Catamaran manages over $1 billion across all asset classes. As director of Catamaran Ventures UK alongside Sunak (who later resigned as director), she took on a different mantle as an investor spotting New Age winners. Some investments include investing in a British firm associated with Jamie Oliver’s Pizzeria and New & Lingwood, dubbed the quintessential English gentleman’s outfitter. Murty came under intense scrutiny after the Digme Fitness gym chain he co-owned sought taxpayers’ money during the pandemic to pay its staff under the chancellor’s job retention scheme.
The couple has a huge real estate portfolio. They live in a £7million townhouse in Kensington. They also own an apartment in Kensington and a mansion in Richie’s Yorkshire and a penthouse in California.

Explained: Why Narayan Murthy's daughter Akshat changed her UK tax status

Explained: Why Narayan Murthy’s daughter Akshat changed her UK tax status

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