Wealth of Rishi Sunak and wife Akshata Murty leaps to £651m – Sunday Times 2024 Rich List

The personal fortune of the Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and his wife Akshata Murty surged by more than £120m over the past year.

The latest annual Sunday Times Rich List revealed their wealth grew substantially despite the wider UK billionaire boom coming “to an end” in the face of tough economic conditions.

Mr Sunak and Ms Murty’s wealth was £651m in the latest list, soaring from £529m in 2023.

The rise was linked to Ms Murty’s small stake in Infosys, the 70 billion dollar (£55.3bn) Indian IT giant co-founded by her billionaire father.

Her shares grew in value by £108.8m to nearly £590m for the year.

The couple’s wealth however still remains below its level from 2022, when it sat at around £730m for the year.

It came as the list of the richest people in Great Britain showed that King Charles’ wealth also grew for the year, rising to £610m from £600m.

The list recorded that the number of British billionaires tumbled again, continuing a theme seen in 2023.

The number of billionaires reached a peak of 177 in 2022, before dropping to 171 and falling again to 165 this year, driven by some seeing their private wealth contract amid high borrowing rates and others leaving the country.

Robert Watts, compiler of the rich list, said: “This year’s Sunday Times Rich List suggests Britain’s billionaire boom has come to an end.

“Many of our home-grown entrepreneurs have seen their fortunes fall and some of the global super rich who came here are moving away.

“Thousands of British livelihoods rely on the super-rich to some extent.

“We’ll have to wait and see whether we have now reached peak billionaire, and what that means for our economy.”

The list of Britain’s 350 wealthiest individuals and families together hold combined wealth of £795.36bn, according to the new data.

This year’s list was once again topped by Gopi Hinduja and his family, who control the Indian conglomerate Hinduja Group.

Mr Hinduja and his family saw their wealth rise to £37.2bn for the year from £35bn.

Meanwhile, a number of the UK’s highest profile billionaires saw their fortunes shrink over the year amid challenging periods for many businesses and investments.

Sir Jim Ratcliffe, Sir James Dyson and Sir Richard Branson also recorded declines for the year.

Manchester United investor and Ineos founder Sir Jim Ratcliffe was the biggest faller on the list, with his net worth dropping by over £6bn to £23.52bn.

Sir James Dyson was the second largest faller, with the entrepreneur witnessing a drop to £20.8bn from £23bn.

Meanwhile, Sir Richard Branson saw his wealth fall further, dropping to £2.4bn from £4.2bn after a challenging year for Virgin Galactic.