V ijay Shekhar Sharma is a self-made Indian technology entrepreneur and the founder of the digital payments and financial services giant, Paytm. He grew up in a small town in Uttar Pradesh and taught himself English by reading dictionaries. In 2010, he founded Paytm as a simple mobile phone recharging platform. He has since built it into one of India's largest and most ubiquitous digital payments companies, with a super-app that offers a wide range of services, including a digital wallet, e-commerce, and financial products.

Paytm was a key beneficiary of the Indian government's 2016 demonetization policy, which created a massive surge in digital payments. Sharma's vision has been to bring hundreds of millions of unbanked and underbanked Indians into the formal digital economy. He took the parent company, One97 Communications, public in one of India's largest-ever IPOs in 2021. However, the company has since faced significant challenges, including regulatory crackdowns and a steep decline in its stock price, which has significantly impacted Sharma's personal fortune.