Shikha Sharma (Banker) Age, Husband, Children, Family, Biography & More

Bio/Wiki
Full name	Shikha Sanjaya Sharma [1]Bloomberg
Profession(s)	Economist, Banker
Famous For	Being the former Managing Director and CEO of Axis Bank Ltd.
Physical Stats & More
Height (approx.)	in centimeters- 163 cm in meters- 1.63 m in feet & inches- 5’ 4”
Eye Colour	Black
Hair Colour	Black
Career
Awards, Honours, Achievements	• 2015: 'Banker of the Year' for 2014-15 by Business Standard • 2014: Best CEO - Private Sector in the fourth edition of the Forbes India Leadership Awards (FILA) • 2014: AIMA - JRD Tata Corporate Leadership Award for the Year • 2013: 'India's Best Woman CEO' by Business Today • 2012: 'Transformational Business Leader of the Year’ at AIMA's Managing India Awards • 2012: Woman Leader of the Year’ at Bloomberg - UTV Financial Leadership Awards • 2012: Business World's Banker of the Year Award • 2012: Forbes List of Asia's 50 Power Business Women • 2012: Indian Express Most Powerful Indians • 2012: India Today Power List of 25 Most Influential Women • 2011: Finance Asia's Top 20 Women in Finance • 2011: Business Today 'Hall of Fame' • 2011: Fortune Global and India list of 50 Most Powerful Women in Business • 2008: Businesswoman of the Year at the Economic Times Awards • 2007: Entrepreneur of the Year – Manager at the E&Y Entrepreneur Awards • Outstanding Businesswoman of the Year, CNBC TV 18's Business Leader Awards Note: Under Shikha's stewardship, Axis Bank Ltd. received these achievements- • 2015: Conferred the Certificate of Recognition for excellence in Corporate Governance by the Institute of Company Secretaries of India (ICSI) • 2014: 'Bank of the Year in India' by The Banker Magazine, Financial Times • 2013: Ranked No 1 company to work for in the BFSI sector in 'The Best Companies to Work for' survey by Business Today • 2013: Harvard Business School published a case study on Managing Change at Axis Bank to acknowledge Shikha's efforts • Ranked as the 'Most Trusted Private Sector Bank' second year in a row in 'Most Trusted Brand Survey,' by Brand Equity, The Economic Times.
Personal Life
Date of Birth	19 November 1958 (Wednesday)
Age (as of 2024)	66 Years
Zodiac sign	Scorpio
Nationality	Indian
School	Loreto Convent, Delhi
College/University	• Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad • National Centre for Software Technology, Mumbai • Lady Shri Ram College for Women (LSR), Delhi
Educational Qualification(s)	• MBA • Post-Graduate Diploma in Software Technology • B.A. (Honours) in Economics
Religion	Hinduism [2]Business Today
Food Habit	Non-Vegetarian [3]The Economic Times
Hobbies	Watching Hindi movies, swimming, maintaining a fitness regimen, short holidays with family
Controversies	• Summoned By SFIO in PNB fraud case: In March 2018, Shikha Sharma and her rival Chanda Kochhar, who headed the ICICI Bank were questioned by the Serious Frauds Investigation Office in connection with the Punjab National Bank fraud- the country’s biggest ever bank fraud. Both the CEOs had allegedly given a working capital loan of Rs. 5,280 crore to Gitanjali Gems. [4]Hindustan Times • Under- reported bad loans: An audit conducted by the RBI found high divergence of bad debts by Axis Bank in the financial years 2016 and 2017 under the leadership of Shikha Sharma for which it was issued notice twice by the central bank. The divergence between the reported values and what the RBI auditors found was around Rs. 9,480 crore. In 2017, the lender again reported a loan divergence of Rs. 5,633 crore. In December same year, SEBI ordered Axis Bank to probe insider trading allegations against bank officials after reports stated that the lender’s earnings were already being shared on WhatsApp before it was sent to the exchanges. [5]Deccan Chronicle • Aftermath of demonetisation: In November 2016, while Shikha was heading the bank, at least 19 employees of the Axis Bank were suspended for flouting norms and for alleged money laundering after PM Modi-led demonetisation. The reports led to a series of raids at several Axis Bank branches by income-tax officers. Rumours had spread that the bank could lose its banking licence, so RBI had to step in. [6]Scroll.in
Relationships & More
Marital Status	Married
Marriage Date	Year, 1982
Family
Husband/Spouse	Sanjaya Sharma (Former CEO of Tata Interactive Systems, current Senior Advisor at KPMG India)
Parents	Father- Her father was an officer in the Indian Army.
Children	Son- Tilak Sharma Daughter- Tvisha Sharma
Siblings	Brother(s)- She has two younger brothers who are cardiologists by profession. Sister- None
Favourites
Food	Seafood
Business person	Steve Jobs
Money Factor
Salary (approx.)	Rs. 4.88 crores (2017- 2018) [7]The Times of India

Some Lesser Known Facts About Shikha Sharma

• Shikha Sharma is an Indian economist and banker, who served as the Managing Director and CEO of Axis Bank from 2009 to 2018.

• Sharma’s nine-year-long stint at Axis Bank made her the longest-serving woman CEO in the financial sector. ^[8]The Times of India

• Shikha’s father was a brigadier in the ordnance corps of the Indian Army and an ammunition expert who had fought two India-Pakistan wars in the past.

• Being an Army brat, Shikha attended almost 7 schools in different cities across the country before finishing her schooling at Loreto Convent in Delhi. ^[9]The Economic Times

• The former CEO revealed that Physics was her first choice for her bachelor’s; however, one of her uncles recommended her Economics at Lady Shri Ram College, which eventually made her the CEO of India’s third-largest private lender.

• The banker has also learned classical music along with her daughter, after being inspired by her mother-in-law.

• Shikha, the soft-spoken daughter of an Army officer, revealed in an interview that during the placement period after completing her MBA from IIM-A, she didn’t get placed till about 10 days, but ICICI gave her a break. ^[10]Business Today She said,
  

  Foreign banks rejected me. I was losing confidence. I was good at academics, but an introvert. I was self aware enough not to get dejected. But I still felt bad.”

• Shikha joined the ICICI group in 1980 and spent 29 years of her career there. She handled diverse functions including investment banking, retail finance businesses, and setting up personal services units and its insurance company. In 1992, she set up ICICI Securities – a joint venture of ICICI and J.P. Morgan. Eventually, she returned to the bank and took charge of ICICI Prudential Life Insurance as Managing Director and CEO in December 2000. ^[11]Forbes ^[12]Business Today

• Shikha left ICICI bank for Axis when Chanda Kochhar was announced to head ICICI Bank. ^[13]Business Standard

• During her initial years at the bank, Shikha worked under the mentorship of K.V. Kamath, CEO and MD of ICICI Bank, and Mark Tucker, the former CEO of Prudential Plc. and current Group Chairman of HSBC Holdings plc.

• In 1982, Shikha married her IIM-A batchmate, Sanjaya Sharma. The couple has two children together. Talking about her children, Mrs Sharma said in an interview, ^[14]Business Today
  

  I consider my children my most enduring embodiments of achievement. But I haven’t focused on them in the last 20 years. Too much was happening in the office.”

• Sharma succeeded P.J. Nayak at Axis Bank Ltd. in June 2009, when the former CEO quit before the end of his tenure. She was also the Chairperson of Axis Bank UK limited, Axis Asset Management Company Limited, Axis Private Equity Limited, and Axis Capital Limited. ^[15]Forbes ^[16]SugerMint While accepting one of her awards, Shikha said,
  

  One of the things about being a woman leader is that the world is dominated by male leaders, so you’re constantly being compared. You have to shut out certain things and not worry about them so that you’re effective at the job.”

• Shikha was instrumental in successfully transforming the third largest private sector bank in India with primarily corporate lending and retail liability portfolio, into a full-service, end-to-end financial institution focussed on sustained profitable growth. ^[17]Forbes

• Under her tenure, the gross NPAs of Axis bank rose from 0.96 per cent in March 2009 to 5.28 per cent in December 2017. ^[18]Deccan Chronicle

• Since 2015, Ms Sharma also chairs the confederation of Indian Industry (CII) National Committee on Banking, and she has remained a member of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Technical Advisory Committee. The high-profile banker was also a part of RBI’s panel on Financial Inclusion, the Committee on Comprehensive Financial Services for Small Businesses and Low-Income Households. She has also served as the Co-Chairperson of Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) and Banking and Financial Institutions Committee 2013-15. Shikha is also a member of Visa’s Senior Client Council, APCEMEA (Asia –Pacific, Central Europe, Middle East & Africa).  ^[19]World Economic Forum

• Sharma also sits as an independent director on the boards of Tech Mahindra, Tata Global Beverages, Ambuja Cement, and Dr Reddy’s Laboratories. ^[20]The Times of India

• After being denied an extension of her fourth term by the RBI as the MD of Axis Bank, Shikha Sharma retired from her position on 31 December 2018, two-and-a-half years before her term was supposed to end. She demitted the office after proposing that her new term be reduced to seven months from a three-year tenure, which was accepted by the board. She was succeeded by Amitabh Chaudhry. ^[21]The Economic Times

• On 1 February 2019, within a month after leaving the Axis Bank, Shikha took over as the adviser for the global private equity giant KKR and Co. ^[22]Mint

• Next year, the ex-CEO of Axis Bank with more than three decades of work experience was appointed as an adviser by Google Pay India, the digital payment platform from Google. ^[23]Moneycontrol
  

  Shikha Sharma was appointed the adviser of Google Pay

• At the beginning of 2020, Shikha’s daughter Tvisha got hitched to Harsh Desai in a big fat wedding. The guest list comprised of corporate elites including Anand Mahindra, Amit Chandra, Zia Mody, Cyril Shroff, Ajay Piramal, Deepak Parekh, and N. Chandrasekaran, along with Sharma’s former ICICI colleagues Kalpana Morparia and K.V. Kamath. ^[24]The Economic Times