While Paytm gears up to expand its offerings and diversify its online payments business, it is also onboarding experienced personnel to the company board. The latest addition to the same would be Mark Schwartz, who is the vice chairman of the Goldman Sachs Group. He is also the former chairman of Goldman Sachs Asia-Pacific but will continue to be an adviser to the firm.
This move of bringing in a financial veteran who has over 27 years of experience to the team is in line with Paytm’s efforts of beefing up its own financial and technology management. In a statement, the company says that Schwartz will be responsible for guiding business teams to ensure an aggressive but consistent growth.
India is one of the most dynamic and interesting economies in the world and I’m incredibly excited about working with Vijay and his team,
says Schwartz in a statement.
This announcement also comes on the heels of the upcoming reveal of the payments bank business that Paytm has been working hard to develop. There have been rumors that the company will officially unveil the spin-off finance business, for which obtained a license from RBI, sometime after Deepawali. The expected date of launch has been slated for November 9.
Commenting on the addition of Schwartz to the board, Paytm founder and CEO Vijay Shekhar Sharma says,
He has played a critical role in building leading businesses in the Asia-Pacific region and across the world. I am confident Mark’s insights would offer excellent leadership for Paytm as we work towards bringing half a billion Indians to the mainstream economy.
This appointment to Paytm’s board follows that of the former head of Google Search, Amit Singhal. He is a valuable addition to the technology team of the company and will help them deliver more robust and secure financial products. Schwartz is the twelfth member of the board of One97 Communication, the parent company of Paytm.
For those unaware, Mark Schwartz first joined Goldman Sachs in 1979 and has been associated with the investment firm for over three decades. He is also recognized as the former chairman of MissionPoint Capital Partners and the President and CEO of Soros Fund Management. Japanese behemoth SoftBank Corp. also counts him as the Director of the company board.
Schwartz also helped play an important role in Alibaba’s $25 billion IPO in New York in 2014. He was sort-of the chief advisor to Alibaba founder Jack Ma and executive vice chairman Joseph Tsai during that period of time. Alibaba and its investment arm Ant Financial are major investors in Paytm and hold over 41 percent stake in the company.
