Astronomer CEO Andy Byron Steps Down Following Viral Coldplay Kiss-Cam Incident

Chris Martin of Coldplay performs at the O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire on October 12, 2021 in London, England.

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Astronomer, the technology company that faced backlash after its CEO was allegedly caught in an affair at a Coldplay concert, announced on Saturday that the CEO has resigned.

“Andy Byron has tendered his resignation, and the Board of Directors has accepted,” the company stated. “The Board will begin a search for our next Chief Executive as Cofounder and Chief Product Officer Pete DeJoy continues to serve as interim CEO.”

Byron was shown on a big screen at a Coldplay concert on Wednesday with his arms around the company’s chief people officer, Kristin Cabot. Byron, who is married with children, immediately hid when the couple was displayed on screen. Lead singer Chris Martin remarked, “Either they’re having an affair or they’re just very shy.” A concert attendee’s video of the incident went viral.

In May, Astronomer announced a $93 million investment round led by Bain Ventures and other investors, including Salesforce Ventures.

Byron’s resignation follows Astronomer’s announcement on Friday that it had launched a “formal investigation” into the matter, with the CEO previously placed on administrative leave. “Before this week, we were known as a pioneer in the DataOps space, helping data teams power everything from modern analytics to production AI,” the company mentioned in its Saturday statement. “Our leaders are expected to set the standard in both conduct and accountability, and recently, that standard was not met.”