Woman Mistakes Random Guy In Bali For Ex-DBS CEO, And He Just Rolls With It [UPDATED]
The real CEO came forward to tell her she had the wrong guy.
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UPDATED: This article now includes the reaction of the person this LinkedIn poster met in Bali. Read on as Kumar H Subramaniam tells his side of the story.
In what might be the most hilarious case of mistaken identity this year, a woman on LinkedIn shared a story about a chance encounter with Piyush Gupta, the former CEO of DBS Bank, in a quiet café in Bali.
Only.. it wasn’t him.
According to her now-viral post, she swore she bumped into the ex-banker extraordinaire during her tropical coffee run.
She described the man she met as casual, composed, unassuming, and apparently very convincing – so much so that she not only chatted with him but also proudly announced the encounter on LinkedIn for all her professional network to see.
Plot twist? The actual Piyush Gupta saw the post and decided to gently pop the bubble with a polite but firm comment:
“Sorry to disillusion you, that isn’t me!,” the real Gupta said. Ouch.
To her credit, the woman didn’t backpedal or delete the post (bold move, respect). Instead, she doubled down, replying to Gupta that she had seen him at DBS before and genuinely couldn’t tell him and the Bali café guy apart.
The non-Gupta man played along for some reason
In her defence, the mystery man was apparently dripping with Gupta-level charm and “said all the right things”. Honestly, who was this guy? A decoy CEO? A highly-trained executive impersonator? A retired banker enjoying some quality trolling? We may never know.
Maybe he was flattered, or confused. Or maybe he just wanted to enjoy his coffee without starting an awkward “I’m not who you think I am” conversation.
Either way, LinkedIn users are getting a kick out of it. It’s a delightful little reminder that social media is, at its core, a very fancy game of telephone.
The man actually told her that he isn’t Gupta, but she posted the photo anyway
A recent report by Singaporean news site Mothership said that the Gupta doppelganger had told Janney he isn’t the man she thought he was after they reached out to him.
Identified as Kumar H Subramaniam, the 58-year-old works as a teacher in Bali and has lived there for 25 years. He mentioned that he is a “regular Joe” and is a member of a network of expatriates there.
Explaining what happened that day, Kumar said he was having lunch with a colleague at a cafe in Bali. Janney apparently approached him and showed him a photo of Piyush Gupta, and he clarified with her that he is not.
However, Kumar obliged when she asked if she could take a photo with him.
He only came forward when he realised that the photo had gone viral and when the real Piyush Gupta commented on Janney’s post.
“I never at any point said that I was indeed Mr. Gupta. I never agreed for my picture to be used to promote any business or social ventures on anyone.
“I do not condone any such actions of using any resemblance intentional or otherwise to mislead anyone, most importantly Mr. Gupta,” he said.
Kumar also highlighted that he was subjected to racist comments after Janney’s post went viral. The comments, according to him, referenced scam centres, mentioned all Indian men are the same, and use of the K-word.
However, he stated that he is not going to take any action against Janney, saying “Some have asked me to sue, but this is an online storm in a teacup. We all know the news cycle – in another week’s time, another topic will come up and this will all blow over.”
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