Harsh Goenka boosts Vijay Shekhar Sharma as Paytm IPO sees sluggish response

Harsh Goenka lauded Vijay Shekhar Sharma for how far he has come from his humble beginnings.

Harsh Goenka, chairperson of RPG Enterprises, had generous words of praise for Paytm founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma as the digital payment platform is conducting its initial public offering (IPO) - India's biggest - this week.

The industrialist lauded Sharma for how far he has come from his humble beginnings, thanks to his hard work and perseverance.

“To prosper in the new India , you don’t need family background, knowledge of great English or money- you need to dream, persevere and work hard. A teacher’s son, from a small city, from a Hindi medium school is doing the biggest IPO in our history. All luck @vijayshekhar,” Goenka said in a tweet on Tuesday, tagging Sharma.

Sharma responded to Goenka’s praise with a tweet. “Sir you are kind with praises,” he said.

Sir you are kind with praises.

— Vijay Shekhar Sharma (@vijayshekhar) November 9, 2021

Vijay Shekhar Sharma, 43, is the son of a schoolteacher. He has said in the past that he learned English by listening to rock music.

He was ranked India's youngest dollar billionaire four years ago at the age of 38 and now has a net worth of $2.4 billion, according to Forbes. He owns a nearly 14-percent stake.

By the end of the second day of bidding, Paytm's Rs 18,300-crore IPO was subscribed 47 per cent. This is in sharp contrast to the IPOs of other internet companies that went public this year. The public issues of food delivery giant Zomato, online beauty brand Nykaa and fintech firm Policybazaar all got fully subscribed on Day 1 of the bidding.