Vijay Shekhar Sharma
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'My first million dollars'
Jan 1, 2017: The Times of India
`I'm prouder about creating millionaires' Vijay Shekhar Sharma | 43 | Paytm founder
2016 was memorable, both for Vijay Shekhar Sharma and his company. While Paytm gained exponentially from the government's move to demonetise high currency notes, Sharma's personal wealth swelled as he sold 1% of his shareholding recently for Rs 325 crore. “This is the first time I've done a secondary sale. The money will be used to capitalise the payments bank and I may buy a house after having lived in a rented apartment for so many years,“ he says.
Sharma says it was a wondrous moment when he got an SMS from ICICI Bank informing him that the transfer of money had happened.“I captured it by taking a screenshot. All my wealth has been on paper so far, as I have never felt that you need so much cash. I had never bothered to sell my stake earlier. Also, the best is yet to come for us,“ he says.
Sharma, who started One97 Communications (Paytm's par ent company) as a mobile valueadded services platform in 2001, comes from a humble background. Today Paytm is valued at $5 billion and he says being a well-paid CEO (earning Rs 3.1 crore in the 2015-16 fiscal) is itself overwhelming. “My father who had a government job as a middle-school teacher would have earned in many years what I earn annually. But the real joy is in seeing your team members also gain from the success of the company. It's about how many people come along with you in this journey . At Paytm we have at least 10 who have made $1 million and I'm more proud about creating these millionaires in the team than becoming one myself.“
As told to Samidha Sharma
