Coldplay’s “Music of the Spheres” show at Gillette Stadium paused for a playful kiss-cam. Instead of a cute couple, the jumbotron flashed Andy Byron — CEO of data-infrastructure firm Astronomer — locked in an embrace with Kristin Cabot, the company’s Chief People Officer (HR).
Their panicked duck-and-cover, plus front-man Chris Martin joking, “Are they having an affair?”, was filmed by fans, uploaded to TikTok, and hit millions of views within hours.
Google searches for the company have soared; meanwhile, Bryon has deleted his LinkedIn account.
The incident even has prediction market Kalshi asking: Will Astronomer fire their CEO?
How Big Did It Get?
- Hashtags #ColdplayKissCam and #AstronomerGate trended on X and TikTok.
- The first viral TikTok cleared 1 million likes in 12 hours.
- Reddit threads ballooned with sleuths matching LinkedIn photos of the pair.
What Is Astronomer, the Company?
Astronomer is a unified DataOps platform built on Apache Airflow®. Its flagship product, Astro, lets enterprises build and monitor mission-critical data pipelines without wrangling infrastructure. The company claims:
- 700+ enterprise customers
- 324 million annual downloads of Airflow
- A fresh $93 million Series D (May 2025) that pegs its valuation above $1.3 billion
Who Is Andy Byron?
Astronomer CEO since July 2023; previously led go-to-market at cybersecurity unicorn Lacework and held leadership roles at Cybereason and Fuze.
Why the Optics Are Brutal
- Power dynamic: CEO + head-of-HR relationship raises retaliation and favoritism questions.
- Policy hypocrisy: HR is the function that enforces anti-fraternization rules.
- Investor timing: Astronomer just announced an AWS strategic collaboration (July 10) and is reportedly prepping an IPO window for 2026.
Precedent Says the Job Is at Risk
- Intel’s Brian Krzanich (2018) resigned after a past consensual relationship breached policy.
- McDonald’s Steve Easterbrook (2019) was fired, forfeiting options worth >$42 million.
- Boards increasingly treat “consensual but unequal” relationships as fireable to avoid #MeToo backlash.
So Will Astronomer Fire Its CEO?
Kalshi, a prediction market platform where users can bet on all types of events, says there’s a 46% chance that Byron will leave Astronomer by the end of the month. Already almost $200,000 has been bet on the event!
Scenarios (Ranked Most-to-Least Likely)
- Internal Investigation, Forced Resignation — Board cites policy breach; Byron exits with negotiated severance.
- Leave of Absence, Quiet Return — If probe finds a policy loophole (e.g., no direct reporting line), he may return after a mea culpa tour.
- Board Stands by Him — Possible if relationship proven platonic; still faces reputational drag.
- Immediate Termination for Cause — Rare but possible if evidence shows
