Reuters
India’s Paytm boss likens debut debacle to Tesla’s early woes
BENGALURU (Reuters) -Paytm founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma urged employees to ignore the Indian payments firm’s dismal market debut which he likened to challenges faced by automaker Tesla following its public listing over a decade ago, two sources told Reuters. Shares in Paytm slumped for a second day on Monday, wiping almost $7 billion off its listing valuation of $18.74 billion in one of the worst ever market debuts for a large Indian company. Two sources present at an employee meeting after Paytm’s market listing late last week said on Monday that Sharma – also the company’s chief executive – advised employees to take solace in how Telsa, once a prime target of short-sellers betting against it, is now the world’s most valuable carmaker.
