New British PM Rishi Sunak owns Santa Monica penthouse

Former hedge fund manager officially became Great Britain’s youngest — and richest — prime minister this week

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and The Waverly at 1705 Ocean Avenue (Getty, Compass)
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and The Waverly at 1705 Ocean Avenue (Getty, Compass)

Rishi Sunak may rank among the world’s most famous tenants — with a new residence at 10 Downing Street — but for years the just-installed British prime minister has been a property owner in Santa Monica. He assumed his new position on Tuesday.

Sunak and his wife Akshata Murthy, a businesswoman and fashion designer who also happens to be the daughter of a tech billionaire, bought a penthouse at the Waverly, a luxe condo building at 1705 Ocean Avenue, in 2014.

The price the couple paid was not disclosed, but earlier this year the pad was valued by Redfin at $7.2 million, The Guardian reported.

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Sunak’s ocean-view condo is one of four penthouses in the complex, which was built by Related California in 2014. The 101,000-square-foot building is located on the edge of Tongva Park, at the south end of Downtown Santa Monica, and has 65 units. A one-bedroom, 1,150-square-foot apartment on the fourth floor is currently listed for rent at $6,195. The building’s amenities include a fifth floor sky lounge and pet spa.

Not that Sunak, Murthy and the family’s new labrador retriever need to spend all their down time in SoCal: Sunak, a 42-year-old former hedge fund manager and HM Treasury chief who is now Britain’s richest and youngest ever PM, also owns three properties in England. THey include a mansion in the posh London neighborhood of Kensington and a rural country estate.

It’s unclear how the finance whiz feels about Santa Monica’s proposed luxury transfer tax ballot measures, which his penthouse would narrowly avoid if it sold at near the recent Redfin value.

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