Singapore’s star banker Piyush Gupta creates a succession dilemma for DBS
Piyush Gupta has led one of Singapore’s most iconic institutions, the bank that helped turn the Southeast Asian city-state into one of the richest countries in the world. In his time as chief executive officer at DBS Group Holdings Ltd., Gupta has built the lender into Singapore’s largest listed company, moved early into wealth management and other key business areas and delivered equity returns that outstrip global peers.
Now, that very success is creating an elephant in the room. At conferences, shareholder meetings and townhalls, people who watch the bank closely are quietly asking the same questions: Who’s going to replace the 63-year-old executive when his long stint ends? When will that happen? And will they be able to emulate his run? Even after a recent series of online banking disruptions angered retail customers, industry observers say Gupta’s record is intact — and the bank’s biggest challenge is finding his successor.
“These issues should have no bearing on Piyush’s legacy, nor are they unique to DBS,” said Vikram Pandit, who was CEO of Citigroup Inc. from 2007 to 2012 and overlapped with Gupta at the US bank.
“It’s always hard to imagine how a new leader can step into the shoes of a highly successful predecessor,” he said. “But great CEOs and institutions have well-defined succession plans.” It’s a textbook example of the phenomenon known as key-person risk, a reminder that companies must be ready for when a longtime chief departs.
And there’s much more at stake than just the share price: So integral is DBS to Singapore that how it solves the puzzle matters to the city-state as a whole. Gupta is in many ways the Jamie Dimon of Singapore, the highest-profile banker leading the country’s largest lender and
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