Astronomer CEO, Caught In Kiss Cam During Coldplay Concert, Resigns
"As stated previously, Astronomer is committed to the values and culture that have guided us since our founding. Our leaders are expected to set the standard in both conduct and accountability, and recently, that standard was not met. Andy Byron has tendered his resignation, and the Board of Directors has accepted. The Board will begin a search for our next Chief Executive as Co-founder and Chief Product Officer Pete DeJoy continues to serve as interim CEO," the company said.
Astronomer also assured that while their awareness may have changed overnight, their product and work for customers have not.
"Before this week, we were known as a pioneer in the DataOps space, helping data teams power everything from modern analytics to production AI. While awareness of our company may have changed overnight, our product and our work for our customers have not. We're continuing to do what we do best: helping our customers with their toughest data and AI problems," it said.
This comes a day after the company sent Byron on leave.
The US tech company's Board of Directors had also initiated a formal investigation into the alleged affair between Byron and HR chief Kristin Cabot.
Coldplay Kiss Cam Drama
The now-former Astronomer CEO came under massive criticism and faced allegations of 'cheating' after Coldplay's Kiss cam segment caught him embracing Cabot. As the camera moved towards them, the two abruptly parted. While Byron ducked immediately, Cabot tried to hide her face - a move that made them look supposedly guilty.
Coldplay's frontman, Chris Martin, reacted to them, saying the couple was "either too shy" or "having an affair".
Later, in another follow-up video, he was heard saying, "Oh s**t, I hope we didn't do something bad".
Social media users also spotted another woman beside them, whose reaction to the entire episode was one of amusement. Initial reports claimed that the woman was Alyssa Stoddard, Astronomer's senior director of people, but the company has issued a clarification.
" Alyssa Stoddard was not at the event and no other employees were in the video," it said.
The backlash was worse as both Byron and Cabot are married to different partners.
After the video went viral, Byron's wife, Megan Kerrigan, who serves as an Associate Director of Lower School and Hope Graham Program Admissions at the Bancroft School, dropped her surname from her Facebook profile. She later deactivated her profile.
Byron became the CEO of Astronomer in 2023 and brought Cabot on board in November 2024. In a now-deleted LinkedIn post, he had praised her, calling it a "transformative" period for the company.
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