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Rishi Sunak Biography: Birth, Age, Religion, Parents, Wife, Education, Net Worth and Other Details
On 25th October 2022, Rishi Sunak became the 1st non-white and also the 1st Indian origin prime minister of the United Kingdom. Rishi Sunak was born on 12th May 1980 in Southampton, England.
Rishi Sunak’s biography is not only interesting, but it is inspiring as well for a lot of young Indians, considering he became the prime minister of the UK, only 7 years after he joined politics in 2015.
Not only this, Rishi is also the youngest prime minister of the UK in more than 200 years.
In this biography, we will discuss everything you need to know about Rishi Sunak’s birth, age, early life, religion, wife, net worth, etc.
Rishi Sunak Biography
Rishi sunak birth, age, parents & grandparents.
Rishi Sunak, who is currently 43 years of age, was born on 12 May 1980 in Southampton, England.
Rishi Sunak comes from a very interesting and diverse family background.
Rishi’s paternal grandfather was from Gujranwala (currently in Pakistan, but was part of British India before 1947). Similarly, Rishi’s maternal grandfather was from Ludhiana (currently in India, but was part of British India till 1947)
Interestingly, this makes Rishi an Indian as well as a Pakistani.
Rishi Sunak’s grandparents left Gujranwala in 1935 to work in Nairobi, Kenya. Rishi’s father Yashvir was born in Kenya, while his mother Usha was born in Tanganyika (present day Tanzania).
It was around the dictatorship of Ugandan politician Idi Amin when things really got worse for the Asian communities such as Indians, Pakistanis, Bangladeshis, etc. and there were regular instances of hate crimes against the Asian people. This forced a lot of Asian population from East Africa to relocate to the UK, US, and Canada around the 1960s.
It is reported that Rishi’s grandparents had to sell their wedding jewelry to be able to finance the relocation to the UK.
After relocation to the UK, Rishi’s parents Yashvir & Usha Sunak got married in 1977 in Leicester, England.
Rishi’s father was a general practitioner in the NHS (National Health Service), while his mother ran a pharmacy.
After 3 years of marriage, Rishi was born in 1980 and he was the eldest of the siblings Rishi, Sanjay, and Rakhi.
Rishi’s brother Sanjay is a psychologist and his sister Rakhi is the chief of strategy and planning at the United Nations.
Rishi Sunak Early Life & Education
Rishi Sunak comes from a family with immigrant roots, this is why, his childhood is a perfect example of exemplary hardwork and determination.
Rishi used to assist her mother in her pharmacy store and eventually learned to manage the accounts of the store. During his summer holidays, Rishi used to work as a waiter in a local Indian restaurant in Southampton.
Thanks to Rishi’s parents’ savings, Rishi was able to attend the most prestigious institutions for his academics.
After studying at the Stroud School in Romsey, Rishi would later join Winchester college which is one of the most premier institutions in the UK (costs over 40,000 pounds or 40 lakhs a year).
Over the recent years, Rishi Sunak had made multiple donations of over 100,000 pounds to the school.
After completing his studies at the Winchester college, Rishi continued his education at the Lincoln college, Oxford university.
Rishi was also one of the 9 rare undergraduates accepted to study philosophy, politics and economics at Lincoln College.
Rishi was a natural leader even during his college days, as he later served as the President of Oxford Trading and Investment Society.
Rishi completed his graduation from Oxford University in 2001, and started working for Goldman Sachs, after which he pursued a MBA from the Stanford University in California, USA as a fulbright scholar.
Rishi Sunak Wife & Children
While Rishi Sunak was studying MBA at Stanford, he met his future wife, Akshata Murthy, who also happens to be the daughter of Indian billionaire, N. R. Narayana Murthy, founder of Infosys.
Rishi and Akshata lived in California for a couple of years before moving back to London. After knowing each other for over 4 years, the couple decided to tie the knot in August 2009 in Bengaluru.
It is believed that their wedding was not an extravagant affair, and was conducted in a short 2 day low-key ceremony.
Akshata Murthy is believed to be the world’s most powerful Indian woman with an estimated wealth of over a billion US dollars.
In 2011, Akshata gave birth to their 1st daughter Krishna and in 2013, their 2nd daughter Anoushka.
Despite the fact Rishi is UK’s prime minister, his daughters Krishna and Anoushka have managed to stay away from the media limelight.
Rishi Sunak Parents in Law
Rishi Sunak’s parents in law Narayana and Sudha Murthy do not require any introduction as the latter is the chairperson of Infosys, while the former is the co-founder of Infosys.
Narayana and Sudha met in 1974, and got married in 1978 in Bangalore with only a few friends and family, much like their to-be future daughter Akshata.
It is interesting to note that their wedding expenses came out to be only 800 rupees at that time, which was shared 50-50 by both Sudha and Narayana.
Moreover, Sudha’s father was not in favour of Narayana at that time, as he was not earning much. It was only after Narayana started working as a General manager with Patni computers in 1977, Sudha’s father agreed to the marriage.
Sudha is known to be a fearless woman in expressing her thoughts, while Narayana on the other hand has always been a shy and an introvert person.
Not many people know, but Narayana Murthy took a loan of 10,000 rupees from his wife Sudha to start Infosys, and the rest is history.
Rishi Sunak Business Career
Given the fact Rishi Sunak graduated from the top institutions across US and the UK, there was no doubt Rishi Sunak was going to be successful in his career.
Soon after completing his graduation from Oxford University in 2001, Rishi started his career as an investment banking analyst with Goldman Sachs.
Rishi worked with Goldman Sachs till 2004, after which, he moved back to London in 2006 to work with the Children’s Investment Fund Management, a hedge fund management company.
Rishi was promoted to a Partner in the same company in 2008. However, soon after his promotion, Rishi once again moved to California in 2009 to join another hedge fund, Theleme Partners.
Between 2013 and 2015, Sunak was also the director of investment firm Catamaran Ventures, founded by his father in law Narayana Murthy.
Rishi Sunak Political Career
Rishi always wanted to be a politician, that’s why, while studying at Oxford university, he took an internship at Conservative Central Office (headquarters of the British Conservative Party).
Rishi Sunak has been involved with the conservative party since 2010. Rishi was chosen to be a member of the party’s leading think tank, Policy Exchange, where he later became the head of Black and Ethnic Minority research unit.
Rishi’s political career took a sharp turn in 2014, when he was chosen as the Conservative Party’s candidate for the House of Commons representing Richmond.
From 2015 to 2017, Rishi was a member of the Environment, Food & Rural Affairs select committee.
In 2018, for the first time, Rishi was given his first ministerial position as Undersecretary of State at the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government in 2018.
This was the time when Rishi was working closely with the then prime minister of the UK, Boris Johnson. In July 2019, Rishi became Chief Secretary to the Treasury and in the following year 2020, Rishi replaced Sajid Javid to become the 4th youngest finance minister of the UK.
The then PM Boris Johnson announced his resignation in July 2022, which made Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss leading candidates for the post of next prime minister of the UK.
However, this did not go very well for Rishi, since he only received 42.6% of the votes as compared to 57.4% in favour of Liz Truss.
Due to the harsh state of the economy, covid impact, and some extreme changes proposed by PM Liz Truss, she announced her resignation on October 20 (only 6 weeks after she became PM).
This was a golden opportunity for Rishi, which he did not let go, and eventually, on 25th October 2022, Rishi Sunak became the 1st Hindu, non-white person to lead the United Kingdom.
In only a span of 7 years, Rishi rose from being an MP to the highest position one could get, the Prime Minister of the country.
Rishi Sunak Achievements
In 2020, when Covid was rampant throughout the globe, Rishi Sunak came up with a programme which aimed at providing 330 billion euros in emergency support for businesses. This programme was the first of its kind, and was well received.
In July 2020, Sunak further announced a plan for 30 billion euros of spending which included a stamp duty holiday, a job retention bonus for employers and the Eat Out to Help Out scheme.
This plan was introduced to create jobs in the hospitality sector. To promote this scheme, Rishi’s government subsidised food and soft drinks at participating cafes, pubs and restaurants at 50%, up to 10 euros per person.
Later next year in Oct ’21, the government proposed a budget which included substantial spending promises related to science and education.
In June ‘21, Sunak also hosted a G7 summit in London where a tax reform agreement was signed.
Rishi Sunak Controversies
In April 2022, it was revealed that Rishi Sunak’s wife Akshata, who was an Indian citizen had claimed a tax status that allowed her not to pay UK taxes on her overseas income.
The decision to not pay taxes saved his wife Akshata as much as 20 million euros in a period of 7 years. However, later on she agreed to make a payment of 30,000 euros per year on her dividend earnings from overseas sources.
Rishi’s love for the UK was also questioned when it was found out that he had held onto a green card for U.S. residency until late October 2021.
Rishi also faced criticism for his thoughts about trans women in 2022, which he later clarified.
In April 2022, Rishi was fined by the UK police for violating lockdown laws since he was going to attend a party with Boris Johnson.
Rishi Sunak Religion & Nationality
Rishi Sunak is an Indian British national and follows Hinduism. Time and again, Rishi has been vocal about his Indian heritage.
Interestingly, Rishi took his vow as an MP of the house on the Bhagavad Gita.
Rishi Sunak Net Worth
As of 2022, it is reported that Rishi Sunak has an individual net worth of 200 million euros (176,000 crores).
However, if you add Akshata’s net worth to that of Rishi’s, it comes up to 700 million euros (over 600,000 crores).
This makes Rishi Sunak as one of the richest prime ministers of the country, even ahead of the monarchy present in the UK.
Rishi Sunak Interesting Facts
After Queen Elizabeth’s death, Rishi Sunak became the 1st prime minister to be appointed by King Charles.
Rishi is also known as the ‘Maharaja of the Dales’ due to his net worth.
Rishi Sunak is known to be a fan of Southampton Football club and he even snuck a portable television in his school during a EURO final in 1996 to see England play.
Rishi confirmed during one of his interviews that he is addicted to Coca-Cola.
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