Vijay Shekhar Sharma
Vijay Shekhar Sharma | |
|---|---|
| Born | June 7, 1978 Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, India |
| Occupation(s) | Entrepreneur, CEO |
| Known for | Founder and CEO of One97 Communications and Paytm |
| Notable work | Paytm |
| Spouse | Mridula Parashar Sharma |
Vijay Shekhar Sharma (born 7 June 1978) is a prominent Indian tech entrepreneur, recognized as the founder and CEO of One97 Communications and its consumer-facing brand Paytm. In January 2022, he was designated as India's representative to the Universal Acceptance Steering Group, an initiative backed by ICANN. By September 2022, Forbes estimated his net worth at approximately US$1.1 billion.
Early life and education
Sharma was born in Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, as the third child among four siblings to Sulom Prakash Sharma, who worked as a schoolteacher, and Asha Sharma, a homemaker. He completed his schooling in Harduaganj near Aligarh. Demonstrating early academic advancement, he enrolled in college at age 15 and earned a B.Tech degree from Delhi College of Engineering (currently known as Delhi Technological University) by the age of 19.
Career
While still a student in 1997, Sharma created indiasite.net, which he successfully sold two years later for US$1 million. In 2000, he established One97 Communications to provide mobile content services including news updates, cricket scores, ringtones, jokes, and exam results. This company is the parent entity of Paytm, a digital payments and financial services platform that Sharma launched in 2010. Paytm went public in November 2021, raising $2.5 billion with a valuation of $19 billion, marking the largest initial public offering in India at that time.
Beyond his entrepreneurial ventures, Sharma is an active angel investor supporting startups across multiple technology sectors. He also contributed three years serving on the board of management at Netaji Subhas University of Technology in Delhi.
In 2024, Sharma stepped down from his roles as part-time non-executive chairman and board member of Paytm Payments Bank following regulatory issues with the Reserve Bank of India.
Awards and recognition
- Received the Best Serial Entrepreneur Award at the Rural and Urban Development Summit and Awards 2022, presented by the Government of India's Minister of State for Housing and Urban Affairs.
- Recognized by Forbes magazine as the Youngest Indian Billionaire.
- Honored as Entrepreneur of the Year by AIMA in 2018.
- Included in Time Magazine's list of 100 most influential people in 2017.
- Awarded ET Entrepreneur of the Year by The Economic Times in 2016.
- Featured among GQ's 50 most influential young Indians in 2017.
- Named Dataquest IT Man of the Year in 2017.
- Conferred an honorary doctorate by Amity University, Gurgaon, in 2016.
- Received Uttar Pradesh’s highest civilian honor, Yash Bharati, in 2016.
- Awarded Businessman of the Year at GQ Men of the Year Awards in 2016.
- Named NDTV Indian of the Year in 2016.
- Recognized as Impact Person of the Year in 2016.
- Ranked among India's Hottest Business Leaders under 40 by The Economic Times in 2015.
- Designated CEO of the Year by SABRE Award in September 2015.
Personal life
Sharma is married to Mridula Parashar Sharma, with whom he has one child. He has acknowledged Alibaba’s Jack Ma and SoftBank’s Masayoshi Son as key inspirations. In February 2022, Delhi police arrested him following an incident involving a police officer’s vehicle; he was subsequently granted bail.
Other roles
Sharma holds the position of 'Patron for Clean Air' with the United Nations Environment, advocating for environmental initiatives and lending support to the UN Environment Programme's worldwide Breathe Life campaign.