New Astronomer CEO gives first statement since Coldplay kiss-cam scandal
Astronomer's interim CEO said in his first public comment since unexpectedly taking over the role on Saturday that he hopes to move the tech startup past the viral moment that captured national attention last week.
Pete DeJoy was appointed to the top job due to the resignation of CEO Andy Byron, days after he was caught on video in an intimate moment with the company's head of human resources at a Coldplay concert. Astronomer said over the weekend that it would begin a search for a new CEO.
"The events of the past few days have received a level of media attention that few companies — let alone startups in our small corner of the data and AI world — ever encounter," DeJoy wrote in a LinkedIn post on Monday. "The spotlight has been unusual and surreal for our team and, while I would never have wished for it to happen like this, Astronomer is now a household name."
Byron was shown on a big screen at the concert in Boston on Wednesday with his arms around Chief People Officer Kristin Cabot. Byron, who is married with children, immediately hid when the couple was shown on screen. Lead singer Chris Martin said, "Either they're having an affair or they're just very shy." A concert attendee's video of the affair went viral.
DeJoy helped start Astronomer in 2017, according to his LinkedIn profile, and had been serving as chief product officer since earlier this year.
In May, Astronomer announced a $93 million investment round led by Bain Ventures and other investors, including Salesforce Ventures.
"I'm stepping into this role with a wholehearted commitment to taking care of our people and delivering for our customers," DeJoy wrote. He added that "our story is very much still being written."
Astronomer is commercializing the open-source data operations platform Astro. DeJoy wrote that customers "trust us with their most ambitious data & AI projects" and that "we're here because the mission is bigger than any one moment."
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