Filing: Berkshire Hathaway sold its shares in the Paytm-parent firm One97 Communications, booking a loss of about 40% on its 2018 investment of ~$260M
Berkshire Hathaway sold its shares in the Paytm-parent firm One97 Communications Friday, booking a loss of about 40% on the investment it made more than five years ago.
Context & Ripple Effects
Berkshire’s exit closes a multi-year investment arc that began with its 2018 purchase of a 3%–4% Paytm-parent stake. The sale realizes a loss rather than preserving Berkshire’s position through One97’s public-market transition.
One97 had already reported rising revenue alongside widening losses in its first post-IPO earnings, and its shares were under pressure in 2022 even as revenue grew. That history makes the departure of a marquee shareholder a pointed signal about the difficulty of converting payments scale into durable returns.
First-order effects
- Berkshire crystallizes an approximately 40% loss and ceases to be an equity holder in One97 Communications.
- One97 loses a prominent long-term institutional backer, removing a visible vote of confidence from its shareholder base.
Second-order effects
- The exit puts greater emphasis on One97’s ability to demonstrate that revenue growth can outpace operating costs, a concern evident in its 2022 results showing higher revenue and a larger net loss.
- Other investors in listed fintechs may apply more scrutiny to profitability timelines and post-IPO execution, rather than treating user and revenue growth alone as sufficient validation.
Third-order effects
- If comparable exits persist, late-stage fintech funding and public-market valuations are likely to place a more durable premium on proven unit economics over strategic-investor affiliation.
- The episode underscores a broader separation between payments platforms’ scale and their ability to generate investable returns; whether that gap closes depends on execution, not investor pedigree.
The trend: Fintech investors are increasingly judging mature payments platforms on the conversion of scale into sustainable profitability rather than on growth narratives alone.