This CEO is going viral for stealing from a child at the U.S. Open

Another weekend, another extraordinarily cringe CEO moment gone completely viral. In case you missed it, Piotr Szczerek, the CEO of Polish paving company Drogbruk, was caught on video doing something arguably worse than cheating at a Coldplay concert. 

The footage, now viewed by millions, was captured at the U.S. Open in New York City before hitting social media. It shows tennis pro Kamil Majchrzak signing a hat, then handing it to a child. But what would’ve been an exciting moment for any kid was ruined, as Szczerek quickly snatched the hat away. The child, of course, looked stunned and upset. He can be heard asking the grown-man-child, “What are you doing?” and begging for him to give it back. 

Still, while the kid was visibly upset, and rightfully so, the internet was, unsurprisingly, even more outraged. The almost-unbelievable video quickly made the rounds. It even caught the attention of Kamil Majchrzak, who hadn’t noticed that the hat had been snatched from the boy in real time. With the help of the internet, he found the boy and reached out to him and his family. He posted photos to his Instagram stories, which were captured by Today.com, of him with the child over the weekend. “Together with Brock,” he wrote. “We wish you a great day.”

Brock has no doubt recovered from one CEO’s bad behavior, especially given he got some one-on-one time with the tennis pro in the end. However, it may be a while before the hat thief does because, well, the internet doesn’t like entitled CEOs doing sneaky, inappropriate or obscenely entitled things. Case in point: last month’s Coldplay cheating scandal resulted in Astronomer CEO Andy Byron resigning from his position after being ousted online.

Already, it seems like Szczerek may have a similar fate. The CEO was quickly exposed, which resulted in a public apology. “I would like to unequivocally apologize to the young boy, his family, all the fans, and the player himself,” Szczerek said in a post on social media on Monday. “I take full responsibility for my extremely poor judgment and hurtful actions.” 

Regardless, his company ratings on the site GoWork have tanked to 1.4 stars out of 5. At present, the CEO’s personal social media accounts have been deleted. 

What’s with all the shady CEO behavior?

The second recent incident involving a CEO doing something mega-cringe begs the question: what is up with CEOs acting up in public? While we know that the wealthy are getting wealthier, and with that, perhaps some higher-ups have a greater sense of entitlement. After all, some studies show that certain personality types tend to become CEOs more often. A 2021 Italian study found that even a slight increase in the presence of a certain personality trait led to a 29% increased chance of becoming a CEO. The personality trait? Narcissism. 

But it’s hard to say whether CEOs are behaving badly more frequently, or cringe incidents are just being captured more often, as most of the population walks around with recording devices in their hands. 

Social media expert and founder of OutThinkMedia Cindy Marie Jenkins tells Fast Company that it’s likely a combination. “Part of what we’re seeing are all the invisible perks that a higher-up experiences, including an assumed level of privacy based on their stature that is all but extinct,” Jenkins explains. “What were the chances that there wasn’t a camera near the guy at the U.S. Open? Much lower than the chances there were.”  

When it comes to using bad judgment, Jenkins says that CEOs—who may have the expectation of privacy—may want to take a page out of Gen Z’s book. The generation who has essentially grown up watching social media influencers film people (who may or may not be aware they’re being filmed), reaction videos, and more, know that everything is documented. Some studies have shown that this phenomenon has led to lower rates of teenage drinking, given teens don’t want to be the viral drunk kid. 

Jenkins says that kids today carry the weight that “every text message today that could be an embarrassing shared screenshot around school tomorrow.” They also know that when it comes to school, their online activity couldn’t just embarrass them. It could impact their academic careers, too.  “It’s known that some universities monitor social media of students, especially highly competitive areas like athletics.” 

Mainly, the kids of today seem to understand something that these millionaire CEOs don’t. And, if the internet is judging (and, let’s be real, it is), it really doesn’t matter how much money you have. If you ruin a kid’s day at the U.S. Open, you’re gonna pay the price.