Andy Byron, the CEO of New York-based tech firm Astronomer, has resigned after he was spotted embracing a colleague at a Coldplay concert, the company confirmed in a statement on Saturday.
The video, which quickly went viral earlier this week, captured Byron and Kristin Cabot, Astronomer’s Chief People Officer, embracing on the “kiss cam” at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts.
The pair ducked out of view after appearing on the screen, fueling speculation across social media platforms.
Astronomer’s board of directors has accepted Byron’s resignation and announced that a search is underway for a permanent replacement.
In the interim, Pete DeJoy, the company’s co-founder and Chief Product Officer, will assume the role of CEO.
Company responds to viral video
In a LinkedIn post earlier this week, Astronomer addressed the incident directly, denying that Byron had issued any public statement and dismissing reports suggesting otherwise.
The company also clarified the misidentification of a third individual seen in the video, who had been mistakenly linked to the situation online.
“As stated previously, Astronomer is committed to the values and culture that have guided us since our founding,” the company said in a follow-up statement on Saturday.
“Our leaders are expected to set the standard in both conduct and accountability, and recently, that standard was not met.”
Leadership changes
Byron’s LinkedIn profile has since been deactivated, and his name has been removed from Astronomer’s official leadership page, where DeJoy is now listed as CEO.
However, Byron is still listed as a board member on the company’s website as of Saturday.
Founded in 2018, Astronomer specialises in data operations and solutions for artificial intelligence infrastructure.
While the company acknowledged that its visibility has “changed overnight” due to the incident, it reiterated its focus remains on solving complex data challenges.
Have you seen any (of the many) memes since this incident was captured on the ‘kiss cam’?
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