The company’s board of directors accepted Byron’s resignation on July 19.
Andy Byron has officially stepped down as CEO of Astronomer, a New York-based data software company, after a widely circulated video from a Coldplay concert drew scrutiny over his conduct with a company executive.
The company’s board of directors accepted Byron’s resignation on Saturday and announced that cofounder and Chief Product Officer Pete DeJoy will serve as interim CEO. A formal search for Byron’s permanent replacement is underway.
“As stated previously, Astronomer is committed to the values and culture that have guided us since our founding,” the company said in an official statement. “Our leaders are expected to set the standard in both conduct and accountability, and recently, that standard was not met.”
The resignation comes days after a video surfaced from a Thursday Coldplay concert at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts, showing a man and woman, identified by online users as Byron and Astronomer’s Head of Human Resources Kristin Cabot, embracing each other in the audience before quickly pulling apart upon noticing themselves on the venue’s jumbotron.
The moment, captured during a segment where Coldplay frontman Chris Martin improvises lyrics about audience members shown on screen, quickly spread online. “Either they’re having an affair or they’re just very shy,” Martin quipped onstage. He later expressed concern over the unintended consequences of the remark: “I hope we didn’t do something bad.”
Both Byron and Cabot were married to other people when the video captured them engaging in what appeared to be a romantic embrace.
The company first launched an internal investigation into the matter on Friday. According to Astronomer, the move came in response to the viral video and its potential implications regarding leadership conduct within the organization.
While speculation about an alleged affair circulated online, Astronomer issued a clarification denying that Byron had released any personal statement in response to the incident. “Andy Byron has not put out any statement,” the company said. “Reports saying otherwise are all incorrect.”
By Haika Mrema
