Vijay Shekhar Sharma (born 7 June 1978) is an Indian entrepreneur and the founder and chief executive of One97 Communications, the company behind Paytm. Launched in 2010 as a mobile recharge site, Paytm became India’s best-known digital wallet and payments app, and its QR codes spread to millions of small shops after the demonetisation of 2016. Sharma’s rise from a Hindi-medium school in Aligarh made him a symbol of India’s start-up boom; his company has also faced a difficult stock-market listing and regulatory action.
Quick Facts
| Full name | Vijay Shekhar Sharma |
| Born | 7 June 1978, Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, India |
| Age | 48 |
| Occupation | Entrepreneur |
| Known for | Founder and CEO of Paytm (One97 Communications) |
| Education | Delhi College of Engineering (B.E. 1998) |
| Spouse | Mridula Sharma (m. 2005) |
| Children | 1 |
Early Life
Sharma is the son of a schoolteacher, Sulom Prakash, and grew up in Harduaganj near Aligarh. He finished school at 14 and entered Delhi College of Engineering at 15. Having studied in Hindi, he struggled with English and taught himself by reading the same book in both languages side by side. While still a student he built a web content system and co-founded a small company, which he sold in 1999.
Career
He started One97 Communications in 2000 to sell news, cricket scores, ringtones and jokes to mobile phone users through telecom operators. The business nearly went under after the dot-com crash; he has described living on two cups of tea a day and walking to save bus fare.
Paytm, short for “Pay Through Mobile”, began as a site for phone recharges and bill payments and added a wallet in 2014. Alibaba’s affiliate Ant Financial invested in 2015, followed by SoftBank and Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway. When the government withdrew high-value banknotes on 8 November 2016, Paytm’s users and merchants multiplied within weeks. Paytm Payments Bank opened in 2017.
One97 listed its shares in November 2021 in what was then India’s largest initial public offering, raising about ₹18,300 crore. The shares fell 27 per cent on the first day and far more over the following year.
On 31 January 2024 the Reserve Bank of India ordered Paytm Payments Bank to stop taking new deposits and most other business, citing persistent failures to follow rules. Sharma resigned as the bank’s part-time chairman. Paytm moved its UPI payments to partner banks, cut jobs and sold its ticketing business to Zomato; it has since reported a return to profit.
Personal Life
Sharma married Mridula in 2005, and they have a son. He is a music lover and has invested in other start-ups.
Awards and Honours
Frequently Asked Questions
When and where was Vijay Shekhar Sharma born?
Vijay Shekhar Sharma was born on 7 June 1978 in Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, India and is 48 years old.
What is Vijay Shekhar Sharma known for?
Known for: Founder and CEO of Paytm (One97 Communications).
Featured image: Vijay Shekhar Sharma, founder of Paytm, at the Horasis India Meeting, Segovia, Spain, June 2019. Photo by Frank-Jürgen Richter, licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
