Vijay Shekar Sharma lived life like any other average man who had not tasted success. He began his journey with a modest salary of 10,000 rupees per month and became the founder of one of India’s leading digital payments companies called Paytm. Even after hailing from a small town in Uttar Pradesh, Vijay Shekhar never stopped dreaming big and entered the list of the richest entrepreneurs in India.
Born in a typical middle-class family, Vijay Shekhar like any other child, went through everything a typical middle-class family has to. His father was a teacher by profession and his mother was a homemaker. From earning merely Rs 10,000 per month to becoming a billionaire, his journey has been impeccable.
After facing hardships, what made him stand out from the rest is that he carved out a niche for himself which most people cannot even think about. He decided to launch an online portal through which people could recharge their mobile with the use of the internet.
However, his father urged him to shut it and take up a job instead, even if it pays 30,000 per month. He added that the families of prospective brides never called back when they found out about his 10,000 salaries. “I had become an ineligible bachelor of my family”, he said.
It was the year 2010 when Vijay Shekhar Sharma first tasted success after the launch of his digital payments firm called Paytm. During that time, the trained engineer sold mobile content via a small company. Initially, Paytm was started as a mobile recharge company, however, its services expanded quickly after Uber listed it as a quick payment option in India.
Last week, when Vijay Shekhar Sharma led Paytm’s IPO to USD 2.5 billion, the American business tycoon Warren Buffet- owned investment powerhouse invested in IPO shares of Paytm and made a profit of whopping USD 16 million on its sale of 1.4 million shares.
In 2016, Paytm achieved its first breakthrough after demonetization that led to a ban on high-value currency notes, encouraging digital payments. By 2017, Vijay Shekhar Sharma became India’s youngest billionaire. At present Forbes puts Sharma’s net worth at USD 2.4 billion.
Vijay Shekhar Sharma lived a very simple life in Aligarh, enjoying tea from roadside carts, buying groceries for home, and going on morning walks. Vijay says jokingly, “For a long time my parents had no idea what I was doing. Once my mother read my net worth in a Hindi newspaper and asked me if I really have that kind of money.”
Even after coming from an economically weaker section, Vijay Shekhar Sharma was able to break the barriers and develop a system that catered to one problem of the society. There’s no doubt that he is one of the biggest entrepreneurs in the Indian startup circuit.
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