A US tech company says its chief executive has quit after he was apparently caught on a big screen at a Coldplay concert embracing a female co-worker, in a clip that went viral.

The clip showed a man and a woman hugging on a jumbo screen at the arena in Foxborough, Massachusetts, before they abruptly ducked and hid from the camera.

The pair were identified in US media as Mr Byron, a married chief executive of Astronomer, and Kristin Cabot, the firm’s chief people officer.

  • malloc@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    20
    ·
    2 days ago

    Don’t these C-level guys usually get a golden parachute? He “tendered his resignation”, but probably still got some severance. Board could force him out but probably triggers some other vesting/equity clause. So having him “resign” but give him golden parachute.

    • neukenindekeuken@sh.itjust.works
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      11
      ·
      2 days ago

      Golden parachutes usually don’t involve inter-company affairs. He’s going to be lucky if the board doesn’t sue him for defamation of the company name essentially.

      • malloc@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        1
        ·
        3 hours ago

        Per Axios report [1], Andy Byron appears to have negotiated some sort of exit package.

        The company officially issued a statement Friday more than 24 hours after the story exploded, due in part to Byron’s slow resignation and exit package negotiations, another source told Axios.

        These fuckers always get their 🧀 no matter what happens. Better to pay them off rather than stall it in court and risk attracting more attention.

        [1] https://www.axios.com/2025/07/18/coldplay-kiss-cam-astronomer

    • Bronzebeard@lemmy.zip
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      4
      ·
      2 days ago

      This also isn’t some huge company. Closer to a startup still. Might not have that kind of benefits yet