Akshata Murthy, the Indian wife of British finance minister Rishi Sunak, is richer than Queen Elizabeth II, with a personal wealth of about $460 million (R6.72 billion).
Murthy’s father, N.R. Narayana Murthy, 75, co-founded tech giant Infosys in 1981, the outsourcing behemoth that helped drive India's remarkable transformation into the "back office of the world".
Her mother, Sudha, 71, was Tata Motors' first female engineer after famously complaining via a postcard to the chairman about the firm's stipulation that "lady candidates need not apply".
N.R. Narayana borrowed 10000 rupees ($130) from his wife Sudha to start Infosys. Now the firm is worth around $100 billion and was the first Indian company to list on Wall Street.
Akshata, 42, owns shares worth almost a billion dollars in Infosys, according to the company's disclosure to the stock exchange.
Sunak and Murthy met at Stanford University in the United States when Akshata was pursuing her MBA. Sunak, the future chancellor of the exchequer, was a Fulbright scholar with a first-class Oxford degree.
Their 2009 wedding was a relatively modest affair, but the reception was attended by about 1000 guests, including politicians, industrialists and cricketers.
The couple have two children, Anoushka and Krishna.
Sunak and his wife own at least four properties, including a $9 million five-bedroom house in upscale Kensington, London, and a flat in Santa Monica, California.
Akshata is the director of venture capital company Catamaran Ventures which she founded with Sunak in 2013 and has also created her own fashion label, Akshata Designs.
AFP