Woman roasted for mistaking random stranger in Bali for Indian-origin CEO: ‘He had your charms right on’
Janney Hujic's LinkedIn post about meeting Piyush Gupta in Bali was debunked when the real Gupta clarified he was not the man in the photo.
A Singapore woman’s long account of meeting the former CEO of DBS Bank was refuted by the man himself. Janney Hujic took to LinkedIn one day ago to share a lengthy post about meeting Piyush Gupta unexpectedly in Bali. She even shared a photograph with a man who bears a remarkable resemblance to Gupta - the former CEO of DBS Bank.
Unfortunately, a resemblance is all it was - the real Piyush Gupta commented on Hujic’s post to set the record straight.
“Sorry to disillusion you. That isn’t me!” wrote Gupta, the India-born millionaire who served as chief executive of DBS Group between 2009 and 2025.
The exchange has gone viral on social media, leaving thousands of people in stitches.
Janney Hujic’s post
In her LinkedIn post, Janney Hujic said she had a chance encounter with Gupta at a cafe in Bali. Hujic, who has worked at DBS Bank, wrote about being struck by his humility, despite his stature as a respected business leader.
“I glanced across the room and thought, That looks an awful lot like Piyush. Curious, I walked over — and sure enough, it was him. Piyush Gupta, the former CEO of DBS Bank. Casual. Composed. Entirely unassuming,” wrote Hujic in her LinkedIn post.
The two spoke about women’s empowerment, the importance of rest and renewal, and her work organising transformative, all-women travel expeditions — including an upcoming 105 km trek across a frozen lake in Mongolia for charity.
In her post, the Singapore-based entrepreneur praised Gupta’s humility and “quiet conviction.”
At the end of the meeting, the man pretending to be Gupta even posed for a picture with Hujic.
“That’s not me”
What Hujic did not realise at the time – and even as she wrote the post – was that the man in Bali was a complete stranger who just happened to resemble Piyush Gupta.
The real Piyush Gupta set the record straight himself. “Sorry to disillusion you. That isn’t me!” he wrote in the comments section.
“Oh gosh, I've seen you when I was at DBS couldn't tell the 2 apart. Kudos to him. In his defense he had your charms right on and he said all the right things,” Hujic wrote in response.
Internet in stitches
The exchange has left tens of thousands of people amused.
“LinkedIn has peaked for me, nothing will ever top this,” wrote one person on Threads.
“I am HOLLERING! that man was just having his coffee. ‘No entourage. No airs.’ Because it’s a random uncle ma’am,” another wrote.
“Hilarious! This seems straight out of an episode of The White Lotus,” a person on LinkedIn added.
