Polish CEO Learns Viral Infamy Beats Any Executive Presence

Piotr Szczerek, CEO of Polish paving company Drogbruk, discovered this week that one bad decision at a sporting event can tank your entire professional brand faster than a misaligned quarterly earnings call.

At the U.S. Open, after Polish tennis player Kamil Majchrzak won his second round match against Karen Khachanov, the CEO did what any reasonable executive would do: he snatched a signed baseball cap from a young fan who had just received it from the player himself. The boy's visible disappointment was immediate. The internet's response was considerably worse.

Szczerek's initial defense was peak corporate tone-deafness. "First come, first served," he shouted, apparently believing Majchrzak had intended to gift him the hat instead of the actual child standing right there. When criticism mounted, he doubled down, threatening legal action against his critics. It was the kind of escalation that makes PR teams contemplate career changes.

Then came the Facebook apology. Szczerek claimed he thought Majchrzak was passing the cap to his own sons, who had "earlier asked for autographs." He wrote: "I take full responsibility for my extremely poor judgment and hurtful actions. It was never my intent to steal away a prized memento from the young fan." The sincerity appeared genuine, but it arrived about 72 hours too late.

Internet sleuths had already identified him and his company. Drogbruk, founded by Szczerek and his wife Anna in 1999, was promptly flooded with nearly 1,200 negative Trustpilot reviews. Comments included "FIRE THE CEO! I strongly advise against supporting Drogbruk. The CEO was caught on live video snatching a prized, signed hat from a child." The math was simple: one viral moment of poor judgment equals significant brand damage.

Majchrzak eventually met with the fan and gave him a U.S. Open-branded gift bag with another cap, photos, and the kind of sincere human moment Szczerek's leadership should have embodied from the start. The CEO learned what many executives eventually discover: executive presence isn't about commanding rooms. It's about not becoming the cautionary tale people share around the office on Monday morning.