Meesho CEO Vidit Aatrey joins billionaire club:IPO surge drives a 74% jump in shares, lifting his fortune

Meesho co-founder and CEO Vidit Aatrey has officially joined the billionaires’ club after the company’s shares surged over 74% following their stock market listing, boosting his net worth. The 34-year-old entrepreneur has been at the helm of the e-commerce company since 2015. Aatrey, who studied electrical engineering at IIT Delhi and has worked with brands like ITC and InMobi, holds 11.10% stake, or 47.25 crore shares, worth ₹1,280 crore in Meesho, while co-founder Sanjeev Barnwal owns ₹6,099 crore worth of shares. Meesho stocks listed at ₹111 per share on 10 December 2025. From Small-Town Venture to Big Startup Success Aatrey’s journey wasn’t smooth. He initially launched a hyperlocal fashion delivery app, “Fashionier,” which failed. Later, he tried a digital storefront model, which worked on a small scale. The breakthrough came from observing small-town women running WhatsApp boutiques in Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh. They shared photos of clothes from wholesalers in WhatsApp groups and delivered orders without a shop or website. Around 60-70% of their sales were through social networks alone. Seeing this opportunity, Aatrey and Barnwal launched Meesho as a “one-stop solution” for small sellers. The name “Meesho” is short for “My Shop.” Today, the company’s market cap is ₹81,462 crore. Early Life and Motivation Aatrey said in an interview that his father, Ravi Datt Sharma, wanted him to become an IAS officer. During his IIT days, he realised there were many career options beyond IAS. His father often warned that failing in studies would mean working in a grocery shop, which motivated Aatrey to succeed academically. Startup Journey and Growth The Meesho idea was not pre-planned. In June 2015, Barnwal called Aatrey from Japan, expressing his wish to start a business in India. Aatrey suggested they start their own venture. Both left high-paying jobs and began their startup journey. Aatrey gained experience working with small retailers at ITC and later in the tech industry at InMobi. Noticing that small shopkeepers struggled to sell online while big companies had access to wholesalers, Aatrey and Barnwal created Meesho to connect small sellers to the online market. Power Couple in Startups Aatrey’s wife, Monu Margaret, is the founder of fitness wear brand BlissClub. They met in 2015, started dating, and later married. The couple has one daughter and are considered a power couple in the startup ecosystem. Employee Wellbeing Initiatives Meesho has prioritised employees’ mental health under the “Reset and Recharge” initiative since 2021. In 2022, it gave staff 11 days off after Diwali for the second-consecutive year as part of the programme. ​