Tech boss quits after viral 'kiss cam' video at Coldplay concert
Andy Byron, the boss of New York-based firm Astronomer, was seen with his arms around Kristin Cabot, the company's chief people officer, on the 'kiss cam' screen at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts,
When they saw themselves on the big screen, the pair quickly separated and attempted to hide their faces.
'Whoa, look at these two,' Coldplay singer Chris Martin said. 'Either they're having an affair or they're just very shy.'
Mr Byron has now quit the data infrastructure company, according to a LinkedIn post from the company on Saturday.
Astronomer's board of directors accepted Byron's resignation, according to the LinkedIn post, and will begin searching for its next CEO.
The company added: '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.'
The data operations company, which was founded in 2018, acknowledged that 'awareness of our company may have changed overnight,' but its mission would continue to be focused on addressing data and artificial intelligence problems.
The company on Friday said Astronomer's co-founder and chief product officer Pete DeJoy would serve as interim CEO.
Mr Byron's LinkedIn account is no longer public and he was removed from the company's leadership page following the announcement, which now lists co-founder DeJoy as CEO.
Mr Byron is still listed on the company's website as a member of the board of directors.
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The Independent
11 minutes ago
- The Independent
Company involved in Coldplay KissCam drama hires Gwyneth Paltrow as spokesperson
Astronomer — the company whose CEO resigned after being caught on a KissCam at a Coldplay rock concert embracing a woman who was not his wife — is trying to move on from the drama with someone who knows the band pretty well. Actress Gwyneth Paltrow, who was married to Coldplay's frontman Chris Martin for 13 years, announced Friday on X that she has been hired by Astronomer as a spokesperson. Astronomer, a tech company based in New York, found itself in an uncomfortable spotlight when two of its executives were caught on camera in an intimate embrace at a Coldplay concert — a moment that was then flashed on a giant screen in the stadium. CEO Andy Byron and human resource executive Kristin Cabot were caught by surprise when Martin asked the cameras to scan the crowd during a concert earlier this month. 'Either they're having an affair or they're just very shy,' Martin joked when the couple appeared on screen and quickly tried to hide their faces. In a short video, the 'Shakespeare in Love' and 'Ironman' star said she had been hired as a 'very temporary' spokesperson for Astronomer. 'Astronomer has gotten a lot of questions over the last few days and they wanted me to answer the most common ones,' Paltrow said, smiling and deftly avoiding mention of the KissCam fuss. 'We've been thrilled that so many people have a newfound interest in data workflow automation,' she said. 'We will now be returning to what we do best — delivering game-changing results for our customers.' When footage from the KissCam first spread online, it wasn't immediately clear who the couple were. Soon after the company identified the pair, and Byron resigned followed by Cabot. The video clip resulted in a steady stream of memes, parody videos and screenshots of the pair's shocked faces filling social media feeds. Online streams of Coldplay's songs jumped 20% in the days after the video went viral, according to Luminate, an industry data and analytics company.


Daily Mail
12 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
They're young, pretty and never need to pick up the check - the latest must-have only for the beautiful people
An app offering an amazing array of free perks has been launched but there's a catch - you need to be pretty to cash in. Larissa Drekonja, a former model and actress, co-founded the app Neon Coat, with Dan Berger. The app offers a selection of experiences, services, or comped food and drink, in exchange for the model or influencer receiving the freebie to post online about it. The exclusive app is a saddening reminder that being pretty can pay as criteria to join the app requires models to have at least 1,000 followers on Instagram and a substantial portfolio of work, and, for influencers, they must have at least 5,000 followers on Instagram or TikTok. There are currently more than 12,500 models and influencers who have used the app as well as over 1,500 businesses and brands across New York, Los Angeles, Miami and London. Lauren Karowski, a travel content creator, finds herself opening the app every day when she's in a city Neon Coat runs in. 'I try to use it to either find things that I was going to do anyways. So again, like getting my eyebrows laminated, getting my nails done, going to a workout class, or it's a really good way to find new like restaurants,' she told the Daily Mail. 'There'll be offers for, you know, comp dinner for two people and drinks. And it's a restaurant I've never heard of. So I'd say I use it like a mix of trying new places, and also just like doing things in my day-to-day life that I would normally do.' The founders said the app 'fundamentally' works as a marketing service that allows models and creators to work with brands they love and take more control of their finances and career. Drekonja founded it after her experience as fresh talent landing in New York City from Slovenia as a teenager. She found the 'exclusive' nature of the industry held herself and other models back from being able to thrive in their career and lifestyle, including just affording the basics. As a young model, Drekonja experienced late payments, cramped apartments, unsafe working conditions, bouts of loneliness and 'unsavory' promoters. She created Neon Coat with a vision of helping young women have a very different experience than she did. In her early days in the industry, Drekonja found that booking anything from routine appointments, dinners, or free haircuts, had to be done through her agents or promoters - and one wrong move or the wrong reputation could bar you from the scene. 'A lot of times, as a model, if you embarrass them, or talk to other people when you were out, or - depending on the promoter - if you said something wrong, if you weren't a party girl, you're just not invited anymore,' Drekonja told the Daily Mail. 'Part of what this was is not like financially empowering, but just empowering talent to be able to pay for daily life in an expensive city,' she added. Even though the models or creators may be making a lot of money, through agencies or promoters 'you might be on that stipend and then most of your expenses are being deducted from the agency' 'Just for the basics, food, workouts, beauty treatments, the basic things they might need as a model or lifestyle creator in a big city.' Even though the models or creators may be making a lot of money, through agencies or promoters 'you might be on that stipend and then most of your expenses are being deducted from the agency,' Drekonja said. 'So, it's very limiting what a model can do in an expensive city like New York or London, Paris,' she continued. 'So having Neon Coat definitely kind of puts the control into a model's hand.' Now, the app has blown up among young influencers and models who can get their hands on free drinks, dinners, or workouts - and all they have to do is post about it. Karowski found the app was a great way to save money through the collaborations. Since joining the app last fall, she has found it worked much better for her than experiences with promoters or agencies. 'I used to be signed to like an influencer management agency like two years ago, where I feel like I would be like begging for any opportunity, like a comped meal,' she said. 'I think, in my personal experience, in their minds, it's like, "why would I even bother to, you know, set up this nail appointment or why would I bother to set up this dinner?" Because they're genuinely getting no financial like gain from that,' she said. A major advantage of Neon Coat for Karowski is that it gives creators and models the freedom to 'do as much or as little as you want'. Now, the app has blown up among young influencers and models who can get their hands on free drinks, dinners, or workouts - and all they have to do is post about it For lifestyle content creator, Jaynie Miller, the app has allowed her to get to know New York City and build up her portfolio. 'I've been using it for about a month now and I feel like it's a really cool way to explore different restaurants and things around the city,' Miller told the Daily Mail. 'A lot of my content right now has been restaurant reviews or day in my life videos and I'll just hop around,' she said. 'Like maybe one day I'll start with a coffee shop on Neon Coat, and then I'll show like a dinner place that I like going to. 'And in between that, I'll go to a nail salon or a hair appointment and just show how I can like spend my day creating content and trying out new places in the city.' Like many in the industry, Miller found that finding a way to work with and collaborate with businesses was tough. 'It's a little trickier having to reach out, usually through [Direct Messages] and sometimes you don't hear a response or if you have the wrong email, or they're just not open to collaboration at this time,' she said. 'So with Neon Coat, it's great to know that this restaurant, let's say, for sure want[s] to collaborate.' Even models signed to agencies have been encouraged to bolster their social media presence with the rise of Instagram models and influencers. For Valeria Nanclares, she has seen the industry change over the course of her 14 years in modeling. 'I always was like, "Oh, I don't have to post that much on social media, because I'm a model. I don't need those other followers,"' she told the Daily Mail. 'But that perspective definitely has changed over the last five years for me, because like, now it has become a thing. You really have to have a good social media and good followers, because some brands, not all of them, but they would prefer someone with more followers than someone who doesn't have [them].' Berger and Drekonja told the Daily Mail that, not only does Neon Coat help the talent, but it also offers businesses an opportunity to promote their brand with creators and models who are already interested in their service or product. Drekonja said that Neon Coat allows businesses to increase 'the likelihood of matching somebody that the brand actually can identify with, rather than just getting a[any] model and having a shoot.' Craig Houston, managing partner of Jack & Charlie's No. 118, found that filling the restaurant with attractive influential people who post about their experiences there worked incredibly well for the business. 'The West Village is an extraordinarily competitive market,' Houston, who offers around 30 to 40 comped meals on the app per month, told the Wall Street Journal. 'The energy in the room is really what the business is about.'


The Guardian
an hour ago
- The Guardian
From Krispy Kreme to GoPro, has meme-stock trading frenzy returned?
Shares in struggling retailers and ageing consumer brands surged, as amateur traders cast aside Wall Street's skepticism and mobilized online. It's like 2021 all over again. But the latest meme-stock rally could be even bigger than its predecessor four years ago, when investors piled into recognizable but unloved stocks, such as the video games retailer GameStop and the movie theatre chain AMC, according to the founder of the Reddit forum that helped whip up the frenzy. Retailer Kohl's, camera firm GoPro, fast-food chain Wendy's and doughnut chain Krispy Kreme each staged rapid rallies this week, driven by abrupt surges in trading volume reminiscent of the the meme-stock craze of 2021, when social media memes boosted a collection of struggling stocks, triggering extraordinary and volatile leaps in value. Actress Sydney Sweeney helped bring clothing retailer American Eagle Outfitters into the mania after it was announced the Euphoria and White Lotus star would front the brand's latest marketing campaign. The company's shares surged about 10% in trading on Thursday. Meme stocks are 'about to leap-frog in size and scope and scale, so that retail traders are going to redefine what matters', according to Jaime Rogozinski, founder of the wallstreetbets Reddit forum behind many of the volatile rallies. 'The world of finance is clearly changing, with blockchain technologies encroaching, and AI agents that trade on their own,' he said. 'And the collective of retail traders is adapting along with it.' Rogozinski founded wallstreetbets in 2012, but said Reddit ousted him as a moderator in 2020. His bid to sue the social media company for trademark infringement was dismissed by the US court of appeals for the ninth circuit last month. The forum's users home in on stocks and share their own research. 'It's a decentralization of power of who can be financial analyst,' said Noor Al, a moderator on wallstreetbets. 'Great ideas can now come from anyone, anywhere. 'We're seeing the power of retail push stocks, sometimes to the tune of billions of dollars, through the power of ideas, the power of community and the power of the people,' he added. The meme-stock craze of 2021, which produced stars such as Roaring Kitty, was a product of the Covid era, when many amateur traders were stuck at home and flush with pandemic stimulus cash. Whether this latest frenzy produces similar winners is not yet clear. Kohl's finished the week up 32%, GoPro was up 66% and Krispy Kreme was up 41%. The rallies show some investors are willing to take on more risk, as stocks scale record highs and the market, dominated by big tech, becomes harder to beat. Often, meme-stock bets are unbound from economic fundamentals, as investors move to support a brand for romantic or ideological reasons. Donald Trump's Trump Media & Technology Group, home to Truth Social, is valued at more than $5bn on quarterly revenue of about $1m. The wallstreetbets ethos 'has always to some extent been about flaunting and exploiting the ironies, relevance or irrelevance' of the stock market, said Rogozinski, who pointed to Wendy's, the hamburger chain, as a good example. 'Wendy's has always been a meme that goes back a decade. It brings a smile to my face, because on Reddit there's always been this thing where they say: 'Sir, this is a Wendy's.' 'It's an inside joke, and I don't even get where it started. It's just a meme,' he added. The stock's fleeting rise – it rallied 10% in two days, but finished the week broadly flat – shows some retail investors do not necessarily care about the typical factors that drive the market, such as tariffs and war in the Middle East. 'It's this ability for us to almost make fun of the financial system.' Sign up to Business Today Get set for the working day – we'll point you to all the business news and analysis you need every morning after newsletter promotion Long-term institutional players will always get the last laugh, Rogozinski conceded, because prices will return to normal valuations. 'But in the short term there's lot of money to be had with this volatility, and the fact that stocks are able to move up and down with such ease is but a mere showcase for how the financial system needs a facelift in relevancy.' While current market conditions do not replicate the low interest rates and retail investor buoyancy of the Covid era, market records and a robust economy have made meme stocks attractive once again for some. 'You see all these indications where this is full-blown meme mania,' Brent Kochuba, founder of derivatives-data firm SpotGamma, told Bloomberg. 'The macro economic environment really favors the retail and speculative plays,' agreed Al. 'I think were only going to see more speculation and excitement. It's a good time to tune in, because retail players can react and provide insight faster.' Days traders are not necessarily bothered by a company's financial performance, said Rogozinski. 'You have this activist, elective investor who is saying, 'I don't care what the financial statements look like, I don't care what the discounted cashflow is, I like the food, I like the video-game store, I like the meme. So dude, you can go back to Excel spreadsheets if you want, but I really like the chicken tenders,'' he said. There is now a 'third component' to investment, beyond supply and demand, he claimed, 'which is, 'dude, I don't care if you think it's going to go up or not, or if they have assets or liabilities. I care about this company and I'm going to help it out. I'm going to go buy my jeans from American Eagle.''