CEO resigns after Coldplay kiss cam scandal

2 days ago

Your web browser is no longer supported. To improve your experience update it here The IT company CEO captured in a widely circulated video showing him embracing an employee at a Coldplay concert has resigned. Andy Byron resigned from his job as CEO of Cincinnati-based Astronomer Inc, according to a statement posted on LinkedIn by the company Saturday. "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 company said in its post on LinkedIn. Andy Byron has stepped down as CEO of Astronomer after being caught on Coldplay's kiss cam. (TikTok/instaagraace) The move comes a day after the company said that Byron had been placed on leave and the board of directors had launched a formal investigation into the jumbotron incident, which went viral. A company spokesman later confirmed in a statement to AP that it was Byron and Astronomer chief people officer Kristin Cabot in the video. The short video clip shows Byron and Cabot as captured on the jumbotron at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts, during a Coldplay concert on Wednesday. Lead singer Chris Martin asked the cameras to scan the crowd for his "Jumbotron Song," when he sings a few lines about the people the camera lands on. The company posted a statement on LinkedIn. (X/@astronomerio) "Either they're having an affair or they're just very shy," he joked. Internet sleuths identified the man as the chief executive officer of a US-based company and the woman as its chief people officer. Pete DeJoy, Astronomer's cofounder and chief product officer, has been tapped as interim CEO while the company conducts a search for Byron's successor. It's easy to miss, but most concert venues have signs informing the audience that they could be filmed during the event. Look for them on the walls when you arrive and around the bar areas or toilets. It's common practice especially when bands like to use performances for music videos or concert films. The venue in this case, Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, also has a privacy policy online which states: "When you visit our location or attend or participate in an event at our location, we may capture your image, voice and/or likeness, including through the use of CCTV cameras and/or when we film or photograph you in a public location." Chris Martin of Coldplay. (Getty) "They probably would have got away with it if they hadn't reacted," said Alison Taylor, a clinical associate professor at New York University's Stern School of Business. And by the time the alleged identities emerged on social media, it hit a classic nerve around "leaders acting like the rules don't apply to them," she added. Still, Taylor and others stress how quickly such a video can lead to an internet search to find the people involved – and note that it's important to remember that such "doxing" isn't just reserved for famous people. Beyond someone simply spotting a familiar face and spreading the word, technological advances, such as the rising adoption of artificial intelligence, have made it easier and faster overall to find just about anyone in a viral video today. "It's a little bit unsettling how easily we can be identified with biometrics, how our faces are online, how social media can track us – and how the internet has gone from being a place of interaction, to a gigantic surveillance system," said Mary Angela Bock, an associate professor in the University of Texas at Austin's School of Journalism and Media. "When you think about it, we are being surveilled by our social media. They're tracking us in exchange for entertaining us." business
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Japan PM plans to resign after election debacle: local media

Herald Sun

10 minutes ago

Herald Sun

Japan PM plans to resign after election debacle: local media

Don't miss out on the headlines from Breaking News. Followed categories will be added to My News. Having done a trade deal with US President Donald Trump, Japan's prime minister will soon announce his resignation, reports said Wednesday, after his latest election debacle left his coalition without a majority now in both houses of parliament. The reports said Shigeru Ishiba had conveyed his intention to step down to those close to him, following the announcement Wednesday of a US-Japan trade deal. Sunday's upper house election was calamitous for Ishiba's centre-right Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), which has governed almost continuously since 1955. Voters angry at inflation turned to other parties, notably the "Japanese first" Sanseito, whose "anti-globalist" drive echoes the agenda of populist movements elsewhere. Ishiba plans to vacate the top job by the end of August, the Mainichi daily reported. The Yomiuri newspaper said he would announce his resignation in July but did not give details of when he would leave office. These and other reports said calls for the 68-year-old to depart had grown louder within the LDP since the results of the upper house election. But he communicated his decision after striking a trade deal with Washington that cut a threatened 25-percent tariff to 15 percent ahead of an August 1 deadline. In the election on Sunday, the LDP and its junior partner Komeito fell three seats short of retaining a majority. It came only months after Ishiba's coalition was forced into a minority government in the more powerful lower house, in the LDP's worst result in 15 years. Ishiba won the party leadership in September, on his fifth try, to become the 10th LDP prime minister since 2000 -- all of them men. Since the October snap lower house election, the ruling coalition has been forced to bargain with opposition parties to pass legislation. After years of stagnant or falling prices, consumers in the world's fourth-largest economy have been squeezed by inflation since Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine. In particular, the price of rice has doubled, while resentment has also lingered over an LDP funding scandal. "I really hope things will get better in Japan, but the population is declining, and I think living in Japan will get tougher and tougher," Naomi Omura, an 80-year-old from Hiroshima, told AFP in Tokyo on Wednesday. "It is disappointing that Japan cannot act more strongly" towards the United States" but "I think it was good that they agreed on a lower tariff", she said. Tetsuo Momiyama, an 81-year-old Tokyo resident, said Ishiba "is finished already". "It's a good timing for him to go," Momiyama said. hih-oh-kaf/mtp Originally published as Japan PM plans to resign after election debacle: local media

Paladin Energy shares lose 11pc as Langer Heinrich guidance misses expectations

West Australian

40 minutes ago

West Australian

Paladin Energy shares lose 11pc as Langer Heinrich guidance misses expectations

Shares in the most shorted stock on the Australian Securities Exchange have plunged after output targets at its African uranium mine disappointed again. Perth-based Paladin Energy lost 11.3 per cent of its value on Wednesday despite posting a 33 per cent rise in quarterly production from its Langer Heinrich mine in Namibia. Paladin cranked out 993,843 pounds of triuranium octoxide — a uranium compound — compared with 745,484lb during the prior quarter. The average realised price of Langer Heinrich's radioactive product dropped $US69.9/lb to $US55.6/lb, while production costs declined from $US40.60/lb to $US37.50/lb. Output forecasts for the current financial year caused investors to flee. Production for the financial year is expected to sit between 4 million and 4.4 million pounds of U3O8 with costs between $US44/lb and $US48/lb. Costs were higher and output lower than what analysts had pencilled in. Paladin's management pinned the result on higher-than-expected mining and blasting expenses plus grade variability in its stockpiled ore. The poor result was good news for Paladin's legion of short sellers, who effectively profit when the company's share price tanks. The portion of Paladin's stock controlled by short sellers is 16.8 per cent, according to Australian Securities and Investments Commission data. It became the most shorted stock on the ASX last month, taking the unwanted mantle from fellow uranium miner Boss Energy. Paladin's shares are down 8.1 per cent so far this year and 39.8 per cent compared to 12 months ago. Paladin is currently facing two class action lawsuits related to production guidance provided last year. It is alleged the company contravened continuous disclosure rules and had engaged in misleading or deceptive conduct. Paladin told the ASX in June last year Langer Heinrich would pump out 4mlb to 4.5mlb of its uranium compound for the 2025 financial year. Quarterly production was well below expectations in October, sparking a 15 per cent share price collapse.

Thousands of jobs at risk as miner pleads for support

Perth Now

2 hours ago

Perth Now

Thousands of jobs at risk as miner pleads for support

Thousands of jobs might be in jeopardy as a major mining company seeks urgent financial support amid calls for a Senate inquiry into battling metals manufacturers. Multinational mining company Glencore says its copper smelter and refinery in North Queensland could lose $2.2 billion over the next seven years and it urgently needs government assistance to keep operating. "Glencore has been absorbing losses, hopeful that a viable solution could be found," the company said in a memo leaked to media on Wednesday and later made public. "However, we are fast reaching the point at which Glencore cannot continue to absorb these losses." Glencore had been in talks with the Queensland government, but says the financial assistance offered isn't enough. The company now wants to hear what the federal government can do to help, saying a "viable solution" is required in coming weeks. "We are running out of time," it said. Glencore said it would start preparations to place its Mount Isa smelter and Townsville refinery into care and maintenance if adequate government support wasn't forthcoming. The Queensland government said it had made a "genuine and responsible offer" to the company and accused it of prioritising its global interests over the Mount Isa and Townsville communities. "The Crisafulli government continues to negotiate in good faith but will not be writing a blank cheque for a multinational company that returned US$2.2 billion to its shareholders just months ago," Mines Minister Dale Last said. Mount Isa Mayor Peta MacRae said Glencore's update, as the company's copper mining operation ends, couldn't come at a worse time for the town of about 20,000 people. "The prediction of 17,000 jobs across the corridor, it's bigger than Mount Isa, bigger than Townsville, and it's bigger than politics," she told AAP. "It's about the survival of families." Ms MacRae said she would meet with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese next week and hoped a "deal" could be made to keep Glencore's smelter and refinery operating. "We need to put politics aside ... we need to come up with a plan that keeps people in our regions, because the regions are where the wealth is created," she said. The coalition has called for a Senate inquiry into the metals manufacturing industry, saying thousands of jobs could be lost in Queensland if Glencore is not supported. "This is thousands and thousands of jobs, both direct and indirect, that are going to be lost if we don't back the metals manufacturing industry within Australia," coalition spokesman for manufacturing and sovereign capability Andrew Wilcox said. Glencore employs about 600 workers at its smelter and refinery, with a further 17,000 staff at 25 other operations across Australia. The company in 2023 announced it would stop mining copper at Mount Isa after 60 years, impacting 1200 workers. The federal and state governments announced on Wednesday an extra $275m to keep the Whyalla Steelworks open, giving the appointed operators more time to find a new owner.