The former CEO of DBS Bank, Piyush Gupta, was in for a surprise when a Singaporean founder and former employee of the bank claimed she met him at a cafe in Bali. Janney Hujic took to LinkedIn to share a lengthy note on how delighted she was to have had a chance meeting with Gupta and said that she was impressed with his humility and the presence with which he carried himself. Hujic even shared a picture clicked with the "former banker" at the eatery.
But hilarity ensued after Gupta commented on her post that the man she met wasn't him. The post, which had gained considerable traction before the comment, is now viral not only on LinkedIn, but also on X. Interestingly, Hujic had worked with DBS Bank for a year as a senior service executive in Singapore. She quit in 2015.
In the post titled "A Chance Encounter with the Ex-CEO of DBS—In the Last Place I Expected," Hujic wrote that she was "in a quiet café tucked away in Bali, Indonesia" when she glanced across the room and spotted a man who looked "an awful lot like Piyush". Curious, I walked over and was certain it was him.
They struck up a conversation and Hujic said he was casual, composed, and "entirely unassuming".
"What struck me wasn’t just the legendary career—transforming DBS into a global digital banking leader—but the humility and presence with which he carried himself. No entourage. No airs. Just quiet conviction," she wrote.
Hujic, who runs an adventure travel company, then spoke to him about her work and "Gupta" appeared to encourage her efforts. "That brief moment reminded me: The best leaders don’t just inspire with their words—they lead by how they show up in the world," the founder concluded what would have been an inspiring LinkedIn-worthy post only if the really Piyush Gupta had not showed up.
Since the former DBS Bank CEO was tagged in the post, he sought to clarify that Hujic met someone else, not him.
"Sorry to disillusion you. That isn’t me!" he commented. Hujic replied, "Oh gosh, I've seen you when I was at DBS couldn't tell the two apart. Kudos to him. In his defense, he had your charms right on and he said all the right things." In a separate comment she added that she was ecstatic when she first saw the lookalike. "I showed my partner Piyush's photo and he jumped up. We both got really excited," she said.
The incident left LinkedIn users in stitches and led to several calling it "the post of the year".
"Hilarious! This seems straight out of an episode of The White Lotus," wrote Arafat Khan, referring to the HBO drama series that deals with dark secrets and twisted truths. "The similarity is impeccable! Sir, you've got a doppelganger!" commented Harun H. Another user, Rohit Radhakrishnan, said, "Moments like these make LinkedIn better."
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