Rishi Sunak awaits multimillion-dollar payday after losing $177,000 PM contract
It’s official. Rishi Sunak is no longer Britain’s chancellor. His long and winding road to the exit door from Number 10 seemed inevitable since his short-lived, economically disastrous takeover. Liz Truss Government in fall 2022.
But 44-year-old Sunak—who is said to have found riding into the california sunset on his Peloton before the results are in—is more likely to be excited about the future that awaits him than worried about what might happen if he stays in office for another five years.
That’s because Sunak, a man technically richer more than the King of England and a successful London banker, could be prepared for some more lucrative remuneration when he gave up a life of service.
Sunak’s millions
As chancellor, Sunak is entitled to a salary of £80,000, on top of his £91,346 salary as member of parliament for his Richmond and Northallerton constituency. Tax records show Last year, he took home £139,000 ($177,000) from those roles.
His pay packet as UK leader is a pittance compared to what he was used to before entering politics and even his other forms of income while in office. Sunak made nearly £1.8m in capital gains last year and paid a total of £500,000 in tax.
Sunak worked successfully for many years as a banker, starting at Goldman Sachs before getting an MBA and returning to the lucrative hedge fund industry.
According to an analysis of financial careerSunak probably earned less than £100,000 in his first three years after leaving university.
While working at hedge fund TCI from 2006 to 2009 in his mid-20s, Sunak became a millionaire after he and his colleagues split a £100m bonus following a lucrative bet on the eve of the global financial crisis.
The hedge fund took an active position in Dutch bank ABN Amro in 2007, which it was forced to sell to Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) for a profit of £555.9m. However, the acquisition left the Scottish bank saddled with debt, leading to a £45.5bn government bailout.
While Sunak’s biggest fortune may come after he steps down as an MP, there are still some new sources of income he can look forward to.
There is evidence that if Sunak were to return to the financial world after leaving politics, he would be in high demand.
Sunak’s former chancellor George Osbourne made millions through his role as a city adviser with groups including Black stones And Robey Warshawoutside of my editing time London Evening Standard newspaper.
Or he could take a cautious lesson from David Cameron, who served as prime minister from 2010 to 2016 and found himself in hot water over his role in the collapse of financial conglomerate Greensill Capital.
Cameron reported received $10 million from Greensill to lobby the government on behalf of the company, but his spokesman disputed that figure.
Talks
The easiest way to shore up Sunak’s bank account after leaving office could be to tap into his years of training as a public speaker.
Tony Blair, the ninth-longest serving prime minister in history, has set a new milestone after his retirement, according to reports. command 1 million pounds for a month in 2012 from his pledges. His Conservative successors are keen to follow that trend.
In the year between resigning as prime minister and resigning as an MP, Boris Johnson made millions from his extracurricular activities as he settled into life after leaving the leadership.
Document from May 2023 show Johnson was paid around £3.5m for speaking engagements after stepping down as Prime Minister. He also received a £510,000 advance for a book deal. Johnson’s predecessor Theresa May has also enjoyed a speaking engagement since stepping down as Prime Minister in 2019.
Family assets
What makes Sunak unique among his contemporaries, however, is that the chancellor never needs to work again.
Sunak and his wife, Akshata Murty, have a combined fortune of £651 million ($830 million), according to the latest figures. Sunday Times Rich Listmake him richer King Charles.
The bulk of that wealth comes from Murty’s stake in Indian IT company Infosys, which her billionaire father co-founded.
Murty’s wealth has been a flashpoint during Sunak’s premiership due to her “non-resident” status, meaning she does not have to pay income tax on her foreign-owned shares in Infosys. Murty has said she will pay UK tax on the money after a media storm.
Sunak will remain an MP until he decides otherwise, just like Boris Johnson or David Cameron before him.
But when he is gone, the man who led the Conservative Party to its worst defeat in nearly two centuries will be quickly absorbed into the multimillion-dollar business fortune shared by most of his former allies.
