Quick Facts
Biography
Vijay Shekhar Sharma (born 1978) is an Indian billionaire businessman. He is the founder of mobile payments company Paytm. Sharma was ranked as India's youngest billionaire in 2017 by the Forbes with a net worth of $2.1 billion. He was in the list of Time Magazine's 100 Most Influential People in 2017.
Education and career
He completed his bachelor's degree in Electronics & Communication Engineering from Delhi College of Engineering (now DTU) . 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 offers mobile content including news, cricket scores, ringtones, jokes and exam results. One97 is the parent company of Paytm, which was launched in 2010.
In 2017, Sharma appeared in Forbes' World Billionaire's List, the youngest Indian on the list.He cites Alibaba's founder Jack Ma and Masayoshi Son of Softbank as his inspirations.
Awards and recognition
- "CEO of the Year" by the SABRE Awards, 2015
- The Economic Times, Entrepreneur of the Year, 2016
- The Exchange4media Group, Impact Person of the Year, 2016
- Honorary doctorate, Amity University Gurgaon, 2016
- India Today magazine ranked him #18th in India's 50 most powerful people of 2017
- GQ India named him among the 50 Most Influential Young Indians for 2017