Andy Byron, the startup executive at the center of an extraordinary social media furor, has resigned as CEO of data operations startup Astronomer.
Byron, who is married, was captured on a Coldplay concert “kiss cam” with his arms around the company’s Chief People Officer Kristin Cabot. After Byron and Cabot quickly tried to hide from the camera, Coldplay singer Chris Martin joked, “Either they’re having an affair or they’re just very shy.”
Video of the awkward incident soon went spectacularly viral — Axios, citing Muck Rack data, reported on Friday that over the preceding 24 hours, 22,000 news articles had been published about the startup, including 9,000 about Byron himself. (Amidst the many jokes and memes, 404 Media argued that the incident is “emblematic of our social media surveillance dystopia.”)
Astronomer, which announced in May that it had raised a $93 million Series D, said Friday that Byron had been placed on leave, with co-founder and Chief Product Officer Pete DeJoy becoming interim CEO. Cabot has reportedly been placed on leave as well.
Now, the company has released a longer statement announcing that Byron has resigned.
