On the evening of July 16, at a Coldplay concert in Boston, USA, CEO Andy Byron and HR Director Kristin Cabot of the technology company Astronomer were caught being intimate on a "kiss-cam", even though both were married. The clip went viral, turning the affair into a scandal that shocked the technology world.
“On the plus side, we’ve all heard of Astronomer by now, right?” Liz Leslie, a San Francisco-based digital marketing manager, wrote on LinkedIn.
According to the WSJ , Google searches for “What is an Astronomer?” spiked after Byron was caught making out with Cabot before ducking out of sight on the big screen at Gillette Stadium. By the end of the week, the name Astronomer was all over social media.
Technology "unicorn"
Astronomer said it had launched an official investigation into the X platform on July 19. The company's board of directors will soon make a statement after the investigation and work results are available.
"Astronomer is committed to the values and culture that have guided us since our founding. Our leaders are expected to set the standard for both behavior and accountability," the announcement reads. In fact, before the scandal broke out, the startup was already considered a "data unicorn" in the AI era. Specifically, Astronomer was founded in 2015 in Ohio, USA.
The company develops Astro - a modern data orchestration (DataOps) platform based on Apache Airflow, which helps data teams build and operate efficient data pipelines, ensuring timely data delivery at scale.
The platform supports a wide range of areas such as data analytics, artificial intelligence (AI), and data-driven applications, and is trusted by more than 700 of the world's leading businesses, including Condé Nast, Electronic Arts, and FanDuel.
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CEO Andy Byron and HR Director Kristin Cabot of technology company Astronomer were caught being intimate on "kiss-cam". Photo: TikTok, Linkedin. |
Thanks to the wave of AI and digital transformation, the demand for data management has skyrocketed, thereby helping Astronomer quickly rise to become the world's leading DataOps platform.
According to data from GetLatka , Astronomer's revenue in 2024 will reach $17.9 million , up more than 48% from 2023. This period also sees Andy Byron taking the helm as CEO. Meanwhile, Cabot joined the company nine months ago.
Most recently, in early May, the company announced it raised $93 million in a Series D round led by Bain Capital Ventures, along with Salesforce Ventures and previous investors Insight, Meritech, and Venrock, with Bosch Ventures seeking participation.
This round of funding raised the company's valuation to nearly $1.3 billion , officially joining the ranks of "unicorns" - startups with a valuation of $1 billion or more.
Astronomer said it will use the new capital to accelerate research and development and strategically expand its international presence.
"Toxic Boss"
Byron has served as CEO of Astronomer since July 2023, bringing extensive experience in senior management at software and cybersecurity companies.
Meanwhile, Cabot, the company's chief people officer, joined the company nine months ago and describes himself on LinkedIn as someone who "has won the trust of employees at all levels, from CEO to manager to assistant."
According to Tech Funding News , former Astronomer employees, who still keep in touch via private chat groups, believe that the CEO's information was leaked.
Not only netizens were talking, many of Byron's former colleagues and employees were also said to be happy all night when he was publicly humiliated.
"The chat groups of former employees are filled with laughter. Everyone feels happy that he deserves to be exposed like this," a former employee revealed to The New York Post .
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Photo of Andy Byron and Kristin Cabot at the company. Photo: The New York Times. |
According to people who worked with Byron, he was known as an “aggressive, sales-focused” leader who created a toxic work culture.
In a 2018 article by Sarah Kuranda ( Fake Hire, Staff Departures Roil SoftBank-Backed Security Startup ), multiple former employees alleged that Byron would often get angry at anyone who disagreed with him, even threatening to fire them.
“You couldn’t challenge him. Once he was hired, the company culture changed completely, transparency disappeared,” a former employee shared.
Byron's leadership style is said to be divisive, with some describing him as a "toxic", high-pressure manager.
Additionally, Byron’s relationship with Cabot raises serious concerns about the integrity of Astronomer’s process for reporting misconduct and harassment. How can employees trust HR when its head appears to be so closely tied to the CEO?
Additionally, the scandal comes at a sensitive time, as Astronomer employs more than 200 people globally. For a company that has always been committed to “open and trustworthy data,” the lack of organizational accountability is deeply “ironic.”
Source: https://znews.vn/so-phan-cong-ty-cua-nam-ceo-ngoai-tinh-post1569896.html
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