The appointment of Britain’s new chancellor made the headlines in India last week, says The Times. With good reason. Before his meteoric rise, Rishi Sunak was arguably better known in the sub-continent than in Britain. His father-in-law, Narayana Murthy – co-founder of the IT consultancy Infosys – is a household name there, known together with his wife as the “Bill and Melinda Gates of India”. When Rishi married their daughter, Akshata, in a two-day wedding in Bangalore in 2009, it was attended by “computer tycoons and cricketing royalty”.
Nicknamed “the maharajah of the Yorkshire Dales”, in tribute to his Richmond constituency, Sunak, 39, is the first UK chancellor “to have married into a billionaire family”. Appointed in dramatic fashion when his former boss Sajid Javid unexpectedly quit, his elevation is “a big gamble”, says the Financial Times. Five years ago, Sunak wasn’t even an MP, “he has never run a spending department” and has only weeks to pull together his first Budget, scheduled for 11 March. The second-youngest chancellor in history is taking over the world’s fifth-largest economy at a critical juncture.
A front-row seat for the financial crisis
The eldest of three siblings, Sunak was born in Southampton into a family originally hailing from Punjab in India, who migrated first to east Africa and then to Britain in the 1960s. His father was a GP, his mother a pharmacist – young Rishi cut his financial teeth helping keep the books for the independent chemist she ran. He later said his parents “sacrificed a good deal” to finance his education at the intellectually rigorous Winchester College. He gained a first in philosophy, politics and economics, before heading to Stanford for an MBA, where he met his wife-to-be.
Subscribe to MoneyWeek
Subscribe to MoneyWeek today and get your first six magazine issues absolutely FREE
Sign up to Money Morning
Don't miss the latest investment and personal finances news, market analysis, plus money-saving tips with our free twice-daily newsletter
Don't miss the latest investment and personal finances news, market analysis, plus money-saving tips with our free twice-daily newsletter
Although Sunak has the classic “politician’s degree”, he struck out for a career in the City first, says The Daily Telegraph – beginning his working life as an analyst at Goldman Sachs, before moving in 2006 to the Children’s Investment Fund (TCI), the hedge fund run by Sir Chris Hohn. “The new chancellor had a front row seat for the financial crisis,” says The Times: TCI was active in campaigning for the sale of Dutch bank ABN Amro, which ultimately sank Royal Bank of Scotland. “TCI’s partners made a fortune as the state was left to pick up the pieces.”
Despite his wealth, friends describe Sunak as “modest and humble”. He has a £7m London house and a large country house in Yorkshire, but “he’s certainly not flashy and never talks about money”, according to one acquaintance. Indeed, Sunak is routinely described as “a nice guy”. He’s “well-respected across the party, which is quite an achievement”, the former home secretary, Amber Rudd, told the FT. He has also built up a steady reputation within the Treasury, since joining the department last summer.
The apprentice takes control
“Rishi is very smart,” says one former colleague. Another describes him as “steely”. It’s widely thought he may not be the pushover some suggest. He certainly has some leverage if he wants to avoid being Boris Johnson’s stooge. As former chancellor Ken Clarke used to say, no PM can afford to sack two chancellors. Sunak may have hinted at his ambition to grab control of No 11 in December, when he attended a Star Wars premier with Sajid Javid, says The Times. “Great night out with the boss – Jedi Master @sajidjavid #TheRiseOfSkywalker,” he tweeted. A theme in the films is an apprentice emerging from the shadow of a master.
-
Renewable investing: who is paying for the green revolution?Investors in renewables have not been rewarded, says Bruce Packard. Will they fund the government’s plans?
-
UK house prices rose 4.6% last year – where did property prices grow most?House prices increased by 4.6% in 2024, giving an average property price of £268,000. Where did property prices grow the most and will they continue to rise this year?
-
Kwasi Kwarteng: the leading light of the Tory rightProfiles Kwasi Kwarteng, who studied 17th-century currency policy for his doctoral thesis, has always had a keen interest in economic crises. Now he is in one of his own making
-
Yvon Chouinard: The billionaire “dirtbag” who's giving it all awayProfiles Outdoor-equipment retailer Yvon Chouinard is the latest in a line of rich benefactors to shun personal aggrandisement in favour of worthy causes.
-
Johann Rupert: the Warren Buffett of luxury goodsProfiles Johann Rupert, the presiding boss of Swiss luxury group Richemont, has seen off a challenge to his authority by a hedge fund. But his trials are not over yet.
-
Profile: the fall of Alvin Chau, Macau’s junket kingProfiles Alvin Chau made a fortune catering for Chinese gamblers as the authorities turned a blind eye. Now he’s on trial for illegal cross-border gambling, fraud and money laundering.
-
Ryan Cohen: the “meme king” who sparked a frenzyProfiles Ryan Cohen was credited with saving a clapped-out videogames retailer with little more than a knack for whipping up a social-media storm. But his latest intervention has backfired.
-
The rise of Gautam Adani, Asia’s richest manProfiles India’s Gautam Adani started working life as an exporter and hit the big time when he moved into infrastructure. Political connections have been useful – but are a double-edged sword.
-
Ron Johnson: the retail king’s quest for redemptionProfiles Ron Johnson’s spell at JCPenney, following his triumph at Apple, was a disaster. Now, his latest attempt to rescue his reputation has just crashed into bankruptcy.
-
Zhao Weiguo: China’s No. 1 chip tycoon vanishesProfiles Zhao Weiguo rode a decades-long boom in China pursuing Beijing’s core industrial policy of semiconductor self-sufficiency. Then he fell foul of Xi Jinping.
