Vijay Shekhar Sharma (born 1978) is an Indian billionaire businessman. He is the founder and chief executive officer (CEO) of financial technology company Paytm. He was ranked as India’s youngest billionaire in 2017 by Forbes with a net worth of $1.3 billion. He has been featured in Time Magazines World’s 100 Most Influential People 2017 List. He is the recipient of Yash Bharati, the highest civilian honor of the Government of Uttar Pradesh. In 2020, he was ranked as the #62nd richest person in India, with a net worth of US$2.35 billion, according to Forbes.
Early life and education
Vijay Shekhar was born in a Brahmin family in Aligarh, Uttarpradesh on 7 June 1978, the third of the four children of Sulom Prakash, a school teacher, and Asha Sharma, a home maker.
He holds a bachelor’s degree in Electronics and communication engineering from Delhi College of Engineering (now Delhi Technological University). He did his schooling from a Hindi medium school in Harduaganj, a small town near Aligarh.
In an interview with Bloomberg News, he says, “I taught myself English by memorizing rock songs and simultaneously reading translated textbooks in English and Hindi.”
Career
In 1997, while in college, he started the website indiasite.net, and sold it two years later for $1 million.
In 2000, he started One97 Communications which offered mobile content including news, cricket scores, ringtones, jokes and exam results. One97 is the parent company of Paytm, which was launched by Vijay Shekhar Sharma in 2010.
Paytm has over 400 million users who make 25 million transactions daily. In 2018, Sharma got Berkshire Hathaway’s Warren Buffet to invest $300 million in the company.
Awards and recognition
- In 2017, he was named the youngest billionaire in India, with a net worth of $1.3 billion. He was ranked #1567in the list of Forbes’s ‘The World’s Billionaires’ list.
- Sharma was in the list of Time Magazine’s 100 most influential people in 2017.
- Sharma was awarded the ET Entrepreneur of the Year, by The Economic Times in 2016
- He was ranked 4th by GQ in their listing of the 50 most influential young Indians of 2017.
- In 2017, he became the Dataquest IT Man of the year.
- He received an Honorary doctorate from Amity University, Gurgaon, in 2016
- Sharma was honored with the Yash Bharati, the highest state civilian award of the Government of Uttar Pradesh in 2016.
- He was named as the Businessman of the Year at GQ Men of the Year Awards 2016.
- He was conferred with the NDTV Indian of the Year in 2016.
- He was named India’s Hottest Business Leader under 40 by The Economic Times in 2015.
Personal life
He is married to Mridula Parashar Sharma and they have a child. His father was a school teacher. He cites Alibaba’s founder Jack Ma and Masayoshi Son of Softbank, as his inspirations.
Other work
Sharma has been named as the UN Environment’s ‘Patron for Clean Air’, where he helps to drive environmental action and awareness, and advocate for the goals of United Nations Environment’s global Breathe Life campaign.
Vijay Shekhar Sharma (born 1978) is an Indian billionaire businessman. He is the founder and chief executive officer (CEO) of financial technology company Paytm. He was ranked as India’s youngest billionaire in 2017 by Forbes with a net worth of $1.3 billion. He has been featured in Time Magazines World’s 100 Most Influential People 2017 List. He is the recipient of Yash Bharati, the highest civilian honor of the Government of Uttar Pradesh. In 2020, he was ranked as the #62nd richest person in India, with a net worth of US$2.35 billion, according to Forbes.
Early life and education
Vijay Shekhar was born in a Brahmin family in Aligarh, Uttarpradesh on 7 June 1978, the third of the four children of Sulom Prakash, a school teacher, and Asha Sharma, a home maker.
He holds a bachelor’s degree in Electronics and communication engineering from Delhi College of Engineering (now Delhi Technological University). He did his schooling from a Hindi medium school in Harduaganj, a small town near Aligarh.
In an interview with Bloomberg News, he says, “I taught myself English by memorizing rock songs and simultaneously reading translated textbooks in English and Hindi.”
Career
In 1997, while in college, he started the website indiasite.net, and sold it two years later for $1 million.
In 2000, he started One97 Communications which offered mobile content including news, cricket scores, ringtones, jokes and exam results. One97 is the parent company of Paytm, which was launched by Vijay Shekhar Sharma in 2010.
Paytm has over 400 million users who make 25 million transactions daily. In 2018, Sharma got Berkshire Hathaway’s Warren Buffet to invest $300 million in the company.
Awards and recognition
- In 2017, he was named the youngest billionaire in India, with a net worth of $1.3 billion. He was ranked #1567in the list of Forbes’s ‘The World’s Billionaires’ list.
- Sharma was in the list of Time Magazine’s 100 most influential people in 2017.
- Sharma was awarded the ET Entrepreneur of the Year, by The Economic Times in 2016
- He was ranked 4th by GQ in their listing of the 50 most influential young Indians of 2017.
- In 2017, he became the Dataquest IT Man of the year.
- He received an Honorary doctorate from Amity University, Gurgaon, in 2016
- Sharma was honored with the Yash Bharati, the highest state civilian award of the Government of Uttar Pradesh in 2016.
- He was named as the Businessman of the Year at GQ Men of the Year Awards 2016.
- He was conferred with the NDTV Indian of the Year in 2016.
- He was named India’s Hottest Business Leader under 40 by The Economic Times in 2015.
Personal life
He is married to Mridula Parashar Sharma and they have a child. His father was a school teacher. He cites Alibaba’s founder Jack Ma and Masayoshi Son of Softbank, as his inspirations.
Other work
Sharma has been named as the UN Environment’s ‘Patron for Clean Air’, where he helps to drive environmental action and awareness, and advocate for the goals of United Nations Environment’s global Breathe Life campaign.
Vijay Shekhar Sharma (born 1978) is an Indian billionaire businessman. He is the founder and chief executive officer (CEO) of financial technology company Paytm. He was ranked as India’s youngest billionaire in 2017 by Forbes with a net worth of $1.3 billion. He has been featured in Time Magazines World’s 100 Most Influential People 2017 List. He is the recipient of Yash Bharati, the highest civilian honor of the Government of Uttar Pradesh. In 2020, he was ranked as the #62nd richest person in India, with a net worth of US$2.35 billion, according to Forbes.
Early life and education
Vijay Shekhar was born in a Brahmin family in Aligarh, Uttarpradesh on 7 June 1978, the third of the four children of Sulom Prakash, a school teacher, and Asha Sharma, a home maker.
He holds a bachelor’s degree in Electronics and communication engineering from Delhi College of Engineering (now Delhi Technological University). He did his schooling from a Hindi medium school in Harduaganj, a small town near Aligarh.
In an interview with Bloomberg News, he says, “I taught myself English by memorizing rock songs and simultaneously reading translated textbooks in English and Hindi.”
Career
In 1997, while in college, he started the website indiasite.net, and sold it two years later for $1 million.
In 2000, he started One97 Communications which offered mobile content including news, cricket scores, ringtones, jokes and exam results. One97 is the parent company of Paytm, which was launched by Vijay Shekhar Sharma in 2010.
Paytm has over 400 million users who make 25 million transactions daily. In 2018, Sharma got Berkshire Hathaway’s Warren Buffet to invest $300 million in the company.
Awards and recognition
- In 2017, he was named the youngest billionaire in India, with a net worth of $1.3 billion. He was ranked #1567in the list of Forbes’s ‘The World’s Billionaires’ list.
- Sharma was in the list of Time Magazine’s 100 most influential people in 2017.
- Sharma was awarded the ET Entrepreneur of the Year, by The Economic Times in 2016
- He was ranked 4th by GQ in their listing of the 50 most influential young Indians of 2017.
- In 2017, he became the Dataquest IT Man of the year.
- He received an Honorary doctorate from Amity University, Gurgaon, in 2016
- Sharma was honored with the Yash Bharati, the highest state civilian award of the Government of Uttar Pradesh in 2016.
- He was named as the Businessman of the Year at GQ Men of the Year Awards 2016.
- He was conferred with the NDTV Indian of the Year in 2016.
- He was named India’s Hottest Business Leader under 40 by The Economic Times in 2015.
Personal life
He is married to Mridula Parashar Sharma and they have a child. His father was a school teacher. He cites Alibaba’s founder Jack Ma and Masayoshi Son of Softbank, as his inspirations.
Other work
Sharma has been named as the UN Environment’s ‘Patron for Clean Air’, where he helps to drive environmental action and awareness, and advocate for the goals of United Nations Environment’s global Breathe Life campaign.