Why Indian techie Soham Parekh, accused of moonlighting, is trending on Twitter? Memes go viral amid Microsoft layoff

In a week already rattled by Microsoft’s massive layoff of 9,000 employees, the internet found comic relief in an unexpected figure: Soham Parekh. The Indian-origin techie has become the face of a viral meme storm after allegations surfaced that he had been simultaneously employed at multiple US startups. The news set tech Twitter ablaze, turning Parekh into an unlikely anti-hero of Silicon Valley’s hustle culture.

The controversy erupted when Mixpanel founder Suhail Doshi took to X to issue a public warning to fellow entrepreneurs:

Doshi posted screenshots of Parekh’s impressive résumé, which includes a Bachelor’s in computer engineering from the University of Mumbai with a stellar 9.83 GPA and a Master’s in computer science from Georgia Tech. He claimed Parekh had been caught juggling roles at multiple companies under the radar—an audacious feat in the era of remote work.

As the story spread, so did the memes.

LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman cheekily joined in and wondered what Soham Parekh’s LinkedIn header might say.


A user imagined the scene: it's Soham Parekh gearing up for the day, ready to check in across multiple jobs.


Another post claimed to humourously reveal the real story behind Soham Parekh — highlighting how he reportedly aces interviews with ease, delegates most of the work to junior staff, and essentially operates a small development agency with over 20 interns and employees.

But the memes didn’t stop there. In light of Microsoft’s announcement of 9,000 job cuts this week, one user joked that all those roles might have belonged to just one person, Soham Parekh.


Another hilarious meme post featured a heart emoji with the caption Are we hiring the same engineer?—a tongue-in-cheek jab at the idea that multiple startups might have unknowingly hired Soham as an employee.


A parody account even joined the conversation, poking fun at the double standards in tech — pointing out how Elon Musk can run multiple startups and Jamie Dimon can serve on several boards, but when someone like Soham does it, it’s suddenly labeled a “scam.”


What are your thoughts on Soham Parekh?