====== Rishi Sunak ====== {{ ::chancellor_rishi_sunak_cropped_.jpg_copy.png?200|}} **Rishi Sunak** is a British politician and investment banker based in [[united_kingdom:england:London]], [[united_kingdom:England]]. He is currently serving as the [[:Prime Minister]] of the [[:United Kingdom]]. ===== History ===== ==== Early life ==== Sunak was born May 12, 1980 in [[united_kingdom:england:Southampton]], [[united_kingdom:England]] at [[:Southampton General Hospital]].((Slade, D. (2020, November 12). //Rishi Sunak’s Southampton childhood described in [[:Lord Ashcroft]] biography.// Daily Echo. https://web.archive.org/web/20221024165656/https://www.dailyecho.co.uk/news/18865935.amp/)) His parents were born in the [[africa|African]] countries of [[africa:Tanzania]] and [[africa:Kenya]], their own parents having previously emigrated from [[asia:India]]. The pair separately emigrated to England, where they met and married.((Wallenfeldt, J. (2022, October 25). //Rishi Sunak | Biography, Wife, & Net Worth.// Britannica. https://web.archive.org/web/20221027205759/https://www.britannica.com/biography/Rishi-Sunak)) His father worked for the [[:National Health Service]] ([[:NHS]]), while his mother operated a pharmacy that later employed Sunak as a bookkeeper. ==== Education and early career ==== Sunak attended [[:Winchester College]], an elite private school that has produced a number of very powerful people over the years. He served as “head boy” while attending.((Butcher, S. (2020, February 14). //Precocious 39 year-old ex-Goldman Sachs analyst gets lucky.// eFinancialCareers. https://www.efinancialcareers.co.uk/news/2020/02/rishi-sunak-banker)) He then went to [[University of Oxford]]’s [[:Lincoln College]]. After graduating in 2001, Sunak was hired as an analyst by [[:Goldman Sachs]]. He worked there until 2004, at which point he travelled to the [[United States]] to earn his MBA from the [[:Stanford]] Graduate School of Business in 2006 as a [[fulbright_program|Fulbright Scholar]]. Interestingly, it would seem at least some of his professors at Stanford don’t have any memory of him attending.((James, E. (2022, October 24). //Rishi Sunak studied at Stanford but NONE of his professors recall him.// Daily Mail. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11349439/Rishi-Sunak-studied-Stanford-NONE-professors-remember-him.html)) Completing his MBA at Stanford, Sunak returned to the United Kingdom to join the [[children's_investment_fund_management|Children’s Investment (TCI) Fund Management]] as a partner.((Hutchings, W. (2007, January 24). //TCI adds four partners.// FNL London. https://archive.ph/7WNsI)) He worked at TCI from September 2006 to November 2009.((//MrRishi Sunak.// Financial Services Register. Retrieved October 27, 2022, from https://register.fca.org.uk/s/individual?id=003b000000LVKnuAAH)) ==== Theleme Partners ==== Leaving TCI Fund Management in 2009, Sunak joined a new firm called [[:Theleme Partners]] as a founding partner, which launched in October 2010. Theleme was co-founded by [[:Patrick Degorce]], who had also cofounded TCI.((Journal, D. (2009, January 9). //TCI Co-Founder Patrick Degorce Has Left Hedge Fund.// Wall Street Journal. https://www.wsj.com/articles/BL-DLB-4126)) Early investments under the new firm included [[:News Corp]] and [[:Community Health Systems]].((Goodley, S. (2020, March 8). //Rishi Sunak: the bit-part hedge fund partner now managing the economy.// The Guardian. https://archive.ph/S84SD)) In 2012, Degorce began investing in [[pharmaceutical_companies:Moderna]], adding it to Theleme's portfolio shortly after.((Chung, J. (2020, October 2). //The Millionaire Who Gave Moderna a Shot.// Wall Street Journal. https://archive.ph/f7OHe)) He had first met the staff at Moderna in 2011, the same year [[:Stephane Bancel]] was hired as CEO at the biotechnology company.((Huang, G. T. (2012, December 6). //Xconomy: Moderna, $40M in Tow, Hopes to Reinvent Biotech with “Make Your Own Drug” - Page 2 of 3.// Xconomy. https://archive.ph/E1RCN)) Sunak was "one of the executives managing [[:Theleme Partners]] US office", meaning he would have had direct oversight of the firm's interest in [[:Moderna]].((Garside, J. (2020, November 17). //Rishi Sunak refuses to say if he will profit from Moderna Covid vaccine.// The Guardian. https://archive.ph/nyJNO)) By early 2020, Theleme Partners had “a quarter of its fund in Moderna,” making it “one of the company’s 10 largest shareholders” with “a roughly 20% position” as of October 2020. ==== Catamaran Ventures ==== Sunak stayed with Theleme Partners until 2013. He then returned to the United Kingdom and began as director of [[catamaran_ventures|Catamaran Ventures UK]], an investment firm he incorporated with his wife in June 2013 in partnership with his father-in-law's Indian company of the same name.((//Quite positive that Rishi will do well as a MP, says Murthy.// (2015, May 8). Business Standard. https://archive.ph/ld4uw)) ((//CATAMARAN VENTURES UK LTD people - Find and update company information.// Government of the United Kingdom. Retrieved October 27, 2022, from https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/08561424/officers)) Catamaran holds positions in [[Elon Musk]]'s [[SpaceX]] and [[Reddit]].((//Where We Invest.// Catamaran. Retrieved July 10, 2022, from https://web.archive.org/web/20220710004838/https://catamaran.in/portfolio/)) ===== Politics ===== Sunak dipped his toes in with the Conservative Party in 2010 and joined a think tank called [[:Policy Exchange]] soon after. He was chosen to run for federal office on behalf of the Conservative Party in October 2014, winning in 2015.((//Richmond (Yorks).// UK Parliament. Retrieved October 27, 2022, from https://electionresults.parliament.uk/election/2015-05-07/results/Location/Constituency/Richmond%20(Yorks))) He resigned his position as director of Catamaran Ventures UK in April 2015, and was re-elected in 2017 and 2019. He was pro-[[:Brexit]], and supported [[:Boris Johnson]]'s appointment as party head. Sunak was then appointed to the elite [[:Privy Council]] and chief secretary to the Treasury. Prior to 2020, Sunak was "largely unknown outside the party."((Honeyman, V. (2022, October 24). //Prime Minister Rishi Sunak: who is he and how did he end up with the top job in British politics?// The Conversation. https://theconversation.com/prime-minister-rishi-sunak-who-is-he-and-how-did-he-end-up-with-the-top-job-in-british-politics-193151)) ==== Prime Minister ==== On October 24, 2022, Sunak became leader of the [[Conservative and Unionist Party|Conservative Party]], elevating to Prime Minister the following day.((Sherwood, H. (2022, October 24). //Rishi Sunak to become first British PM of colour and also first Hindu at No 10.// The Guardian. https://archive.ph/bxly8)) ===== External links ===== * [[https://liamsturgess.substack.com/p/who-is-rishi-sunak|Who is Rishi Sunak?]] by [[Liam Sturgess]] * [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rishi_Sunak|Wikipedia]]