Beautiful Virgin Islands

Monday, Jul 14, 2025

Sunak Wife Infosys company to finally shut Moscow office as pressure grows on Rishi Sunak’s double standards

Sunak Wife Infosys company to finally shut Moscow office as pressure grows on Rishi Sunak’s double standards

Chancellor’s wife, Akshata Murthy, has £690m stake in Indian IT firm, which is now finally moving staff out of Russia, only after pressure grows on Rishi Sunak double standards.
Indian IT services company Infosys, in which the chancellor Rishi Sunak’s wife owns an estimated £690m stake and collects about £11.5m in annual dividends, is “urgently” closing its office in Russia.

Infosys’s decision to shut its Moscow office comes as pressure mounts on Sunak to answer accusations that his family is collecting “blood money” dividends from the firm’s continued operation in Russia despite the invasion of Ukraine.

A source at Infosys told the Guardian that the company was “in the process of urgently closing down its Russian operation” and “relocating staff to other countries”.

An Infosys spokesperson declined to comment, and would not be drawn on whether the decision to close the Russian office was linked to the political pressure on Sunak.

Sir Keir Starmer, the Labour leader, earlier on Friday called on the chancellor to reveal whether his family had been “benefiting from money made in Russia when the government has put in place sanctions” on firms and individuals following Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.

Sunak, who has repeatedly called on British companies to pull out of Russia in order to “inflict maximum economic pain” on Putin’s regime, had refused to comment on his wife Akshata Murthy’s 0.91% stake in Infosys.

Speaking to the BBC’s Newscast after a challenging week in which his spring statement met with heavy criticism, he said it was “very upsetting and … wrong for people to try and come at my wife”.

Sunak drew parallels with Will Smith, who hit the comedian Chris Rock at the Oscars on Sunday after a joke about his wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, as well as the beleaguered England cricket captain, Joe Root.

The chancellor quipped: “Someone said, ‘Joe Root, Will Smith, and me – not the best of weekends for any of us.’ But I feel, on reflection, both Will Smith and me having our wives attacked – at least I didn’t get up and slap anybody, which is good.”

Murthy, who keeps a low public profile, is the daughter of the billionaire founder of Indian tech giant Infosys. According to its latest annual report, Murthy holds a stake in the firm worth approximately £690m, which is estimated to have yielded £11.5m in dividend payments over the past year.

Labour and the Liberal Democrats have criticised Sunak over his wife’s investment in the firm, with the shadow transport secretary, Louise Haigh, calling it “really quite shocking”.

Asked about such comments, Sunak said: “You know, I think it’s totally fine for people to take shots at me. It’s fair game … [But] it’s very upsetting and, I think, wrong for people to try and come at my wife.”

He also defended his father-in-law, the Infosys founder NR Narayana Murthy, saying he had “nothing but enormous pride and admiration for everything that he’s achieved, and no amount of attempted smearing is going to make me change that because he’s wonderful and has achieved a huge amount. As I said, I’m enormously proud of him.”

While the UK government has ratcheted up sanctions on hundreds of Russian businesspeople and politicians close to Putin’s regime, the Indian government has been more ambivalent in its attitude to the invasion.

Infosys had continued to operate in Russia despite most big global IT and consultancy firms such as Accenture, KPMG, McKinsey, Oracle, PwC and SAP all closing their Russian operations.

Earlier this week, Infosys said it had “a small team of employees based out of Russia, that services some of our global clients, locally”. “We do not have any active business relationships with local Russian enterprises,” the company said, adding that it had committed $1m (£760,000) to help the victims of the war.

The ministerial code says that ministers must declare any financial interests that could give rise to a conflict, including those of their spouse and close family. A spokesperson for the chancellor has said Murthy and her family members did not “have any involvement in the operational decisions of the company”.
Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
FBI Chief Kash Patel Denies Resignation Speculations Amid Epstein List Controversy
Air India Pilot’s Mental Health Records Under Scrutiny
Google Secures Windsurf AI Coding Team in $2.4 Billion Licence Deal
Jamie Dimon Warns Europe Is Losing Global Competitiveness and Flags Market Complacency
South African Police Minister Suspended Amid Organised Crime Allegations
Nvidia CEO Claims Chinese Military Reluctance to Use US AI Technology
Hong Kong Advances Digital Asset Strategy to Address Economic Challenges
Australia Rules Out Pre‑commitment of Troops, Reinforces Defence Posture Amid US‑China Tensions
Martha Wells Says Humanity Still Far from True Artificial Intelligence
Nvidia Becomes World’s First Four‑Trillion‑Dollar Company Amid AI Boom
U.S. Resumes Deportations to Third Countries After Supreme Court Ruling
Excavation Begins at Site of Mass Grave for Children at Former Irish Institution
Iranian President Reportedly Injured During Israeli Strike on Secret Facility
EU Delays Retaliatory Tariffs Amid New U.S. Threats on Imports
Trump Defends Attorney General Pam Bondi Amid Epstein Memo Backlash
Renault Shares Drop as CEO Luca de Meo Announces Departure Amid Reports of Move to Kering
Senior Aides for King Charles and Prince Harry Hold Secret Peace Summit
Anti‑Semitism ‘Normalised’ in Middle‑Class Britain, Says Commission Co‑Chair
King Charles Meets David Beckham at Chelsea Flower Show
If the Department is Really About Justice: Ghislaine Maxwell Should Be Freed Now
NYC Candidate Zohran Mamdani’s ‘Antifada’ Remarks Spark National Debate on Political Language and Economic Policy
President Trump Visits Flood-Ravaged Texas, Praises Community Strength and First Responders
From Mystery to Meltdown, Crisis Within the Trump Administration: Epstein Files Ignite A Deepening Rift at the Highest Levels of Government Reveals Chaos, Leaks, and Growing MAGA Backlash
Trump Slams Putin Over War Death Toll, Teases Major Russia Announcement
Reparations argument crushed
Rainmaker CEO Says Cloud Seeding Paused Before Deadly Texas Floods
A 92-year-old woman, who felt she doesn't belong in a nursing home, escaped the death-camp by climbing a gate nearly 8 ft tall
French Journalist Acquitted in Controversial Case Involving Brigitte Macron
Elon Musk’s xAI Targets $200 Billion Valuation in New Fundraising Round
Kraft Heinz Considers Splitting Off Grocery Division Amid Strategic Review
Trump Proposes Supplying Arms to Ukraine Through NATO Allies
EU Proposes New Tax on Large Companies to Boost Budget
Trump Imposes 35% Tariffs on Canadian Imports Amid Trade Tensions
Junior Doctors in the UK Prepare for Five-Day Strike Over Pay Disputes
US Opens First Rare Earth Mine in Over 70 Years in Wyoming
Kurdistan Workers Party Takes Symbolic Step Towards Peace in Northern Iraq
Bitcoin Reaches New Milestone of $116,000
Biden’s Doctor Pleads the Fifth to Avoid Self-Incrimination on President’s Medical Fitness
Grok Chatbot Faces International Backlash for Antisemitic Content
Severe Heatwave Claims 2,300 Lives Across Europe
NVIDIA Achieves Historic Milestone as First Company Valued at $4 Trillion
Declining Beer Consumption Signals Cultural Shift in Germany
Linda Yaccarino Steps Down as CEO of X After Two Years
US Imposes New Tariffs on Brazilian Exports Amid Political Tensions
Azerbaijan and Armenia are on the brink of a historic peace deal.
Emails Leaked: How Passenger Luggage Became a Side Income for Airport Workers
Polish MEP: “Dear Leftists - China is laughing at you, Russia is laughing, India is laughing”
BRICS Expands Membership with Indonesia and Ten New Partner Countries
Weinstein Victim’s Lawyer Says MeToo Movement Still Strong
U.S. Enacts Sweeping Tax and Spending Legislation Amid Trade Policy Shifts
×