Astronomer CEO Andy Byron resigns days after being caught embracing co-worker at Coldplay concert for world to see
The CEO of US tech startup Astronomer Andy Byron has resigned after he was caught embracing a senior executive on kiss-cam at a Coldplay concert.
CEO of Astronomer Andy Byron and the company's head of human relations, Kristin Cabot, were caught embracing at the band's Massachusetts gig, with the incident going viral online after it was posted to social media by an attendee.
Singer Chris Martin joked to the crowd that the couple were "either having an affair or just very shy" as thousands of concert-goers laughed and cheered.
The CEO was then placed on leave on Saturday after the incident sparked online furore, as millions urged the company to take immediate action.
However, in a major development to the saga, the company announced on Saturday that the chief executive had since tendered his resignation.
'Our leaders are expected to set the standard in both conduct and accountability, and recently, that standard was not met,' the company said in a statement to LinkedIn.
'Andy Byron has tendered his resignation, and the Board of Directors has accepted. 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.'
'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 board of directors also launched a formal investigation into the incident, which saw Ms Cabot awkwardly turn away from the camera and hide her face while Mr Byron ducked below the railing attempting to evade the limelight. — Astronomer (@astronomerio) July 18, 2025
'While awareness of our company may have changed overnight, our product and our work for our customers have not," the company said in an earlier statement.
The statement also stressed that Alyssa Stoddard, a third employee who internet sleuths attempted to pin as a stunned woman standing next to the pair was in fact not in attendance at the concert.
The embarrassing moment sent the internet into meltdown, with social media users quickly identifying the man as the chief executive of the US-based company and the woman as its chief people officer.
Lead singer Chris Martin asked the cameras to pan across the crowd while he sang the 'Jumbotron Song' and performed improvised lyrics about the loved-up couples that appeared on the big screen.
Mr Byron's wife deleted her personal Facebook page after users discovered she had removed her married name from her handle which led to an influx of disparaging comments.
Both Mr Byron and Ms Cabot are married to other people.
The alleged tryst was filmed by Coldplay fan Grace Springer and shared to TikTok where it has been seen close to 70 million times.
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