Warren buffett invest in paytm

Related News. Must Read. Money transfer is a critical network business and as India grows, Paytm will grow faster than the market,» Anand Lunia, managing partner at venture capital firm India Quotient, told the daily. Finextra’s year in review.

Berkshire Hathaway is investing in India’s top mobile payments firm.

Berkshire’s investment manager Todd Combs, who was leading the investment discussions with Paytm, will be joining the board of Payt, Communications. The Omaha, Nebraska-based Buffett and his firm buffeett always steered clear of money-losing internet startups that have shown zero to little promise of generating profits, especially in emerging markets. Investors that Mint spoke to expressed surprise that Berkshire Hathaway chose to invest in Paytm which, though the market leader, has reported mounting losses. The investment comes in the middle of an unfolding a digital payments war. With the Berkshire Hathaway investment, Paytm has effectively separated itself from the rest of the pack. It is my honour to welcome Todd to our board, where he will bring his wealth of experience to guide our management team,» said Paytm CEO Sharma. Founded by Sharma inOne97 started out as a mobile payments and mobile recharge business and currently ranks among the top three consumer internet companies in the country.

Paytm, India’s largest digital financial services provider, has got yet another marquee investor on board: Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway. And the move is significant not only because it is the legendary investor’s first direct investment in India, but also signals his confidence in the country’s start-up ecosystem. What’s more, Vijay Shekhar Sharma, founder and CEO of One97, reportedly managed to clinch the deal without any glitzy powerpoint presentations — all it took was one meeting and three phone calls. Schwartz told Sharma — sitting in Paytm’s technology development office in Toronto at the time — that he had just met Todd Combs, who was keen to know more about Paytm. Combs is one of Buffet’s key deputies and among the top investment managers at Berkshire Hathaway.

Paytm, India’s largest digital financial services provider, has got yet another marquee investor on board: Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway. And the move is significant not only because it is the legendary investor’s first direct investment in India, but also signals his confidence in the country’s start-up ecosystem.

What’s more, Vijay Shekhar Sharma, founder and CEO of One97, reportedly managed to clinch the deal without any glitzy powerpoint presentations — all it took was one meeting and three phone calls. Schwartz told Sharma — sitting in Paytm’s technology development office in Toronto at the time — that he had just met Todd Combs, who was keen to know more about Paytm.

Combs is one of Buffet’s key deputies and among the top investment managers at Berkshire Hathaway. Without wasting much time, a meeting was fixed with Combs in Omaha for February In fact, Sharma claims the latter is «as much a cofounder» as himself since SAIF was an early investor in Paytm, coming in over a decade ago.

Over the two-hour-long meeting that followed, the quartet talked about everything from what’s happening in India to life philosophies to technology. Although they talked at length on payment networks across the world, how mobile was winning in China and India, and how mobile-led payment networks will become bigger than traditional networks, no laptop was opened during the conversation. Our company has always believed that it is people whom you trust, and who are hard-working, who pull off things, not the domain experts.

At Combs’ request, Sharma sent across all the annual reports of One97 Communications, which had launched Paytm in A few weeks later, in March, Combs called back with specific questions about the landscape, rivals, risks, challenges, and even profitability. So after a third phone call, Berkshire was ready to hash out the investment size and valuation were finalized, though Sharma did not divulge the details.

Combs will be joining the eight-member Paytm board, replacing Amit Singhal, the former head of Google Search. Citing venture capital investors the report added that Combs entry underlines that this is not a token investment for Berkshire — it will want a bigger piece as Paytm does better. Moreover, this development makes a major shift in Paytm’s image. Regulatory concerns will go away because as a financial institution there is no better shareholder than Warren Buffett,» said an investor, adding that the narrative of Paytm being a Chinese company will now go away as these are American board members.

This deal has also raised eyebrows since Buffett had long refused to invest in the tech space saying that it was too difficult to predict which tech businesses will prosper in the long run.

Significantly, he has thus far stayed away from private technology companies, including unicorns. In fact, Berkshire’s Paytm investment is a different kind of a bet. Money transfer is a critical network business and as India grows, Paytm will grow faster than the market,» Anand Lunia, managing partner at venture capital firm India Quotient, told the daily.

Berkshire is familiar with this model as it is a shareholder in payment companies like American Express, Mastercard, and Visa besides banks like Wells Fargo, Bank of America and Goldman Sachs. While Paytm now has the backing of several behemoths — China’s Alibaba Group Holdings and Japan’s Softbank Vision Fund previously came on board — it has a tough battle ahead if it wants to hang on to warren buffett invest in paytm leadership position. Settings Logout.

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Warren Buffett paytm investments

It’ll just take a moment. Next Story Twitter suspends fake Warren Buffett account. Wait for it… Log in to our website to save your bookmarks. It is my honour to welcome Todd to our board, inbest he will bring his wealth of experience to guide our management team,» said Paytm CEO Sharma. Significantly, he has thus far stayed away from private technology companies, including unicorns. It has created a host of payment solutions where warren buffett invest in paytm can transact via the Paytm wallet and Paytm Payments Bank.