Andy Byron went viral on July 17 after being seen getting cosy with HR head Kristin Cabot on a kiss cam. The CEO of a New York tech company, Astronomer, hugged her and held her hand. When spotted, both tried to hide. Coldplay singer Chris Martin, on stage, joked that they seemed either shy or secretive.
Many of Andy Byron’s ex-colleagues are happy he got exposed. According to a former team member, group chats are full of people laughing and enjoying the drama. They feel the 50-year-old deserved it.
In the office, Byron was known as a pushy, sales-focused boss. Some even called him “toxic” because of his aggressive and difficult behaviour at work.
“The text groups and chains of former employees are like…everybody’s laughing their a*s off and enjoying the hell out of what happened and him getting exposed,” the New York Post quoted the employee as saying.
A 2018 article echoed a similar perspective about Andy Byron. In Fake Hire, Staff Departures Roil SoftBank-Backed Security Startup, Sarah Kuranda cited multiple former employees to verify the “toxicity”.
Several ex-employees said Mr. Byron would get angry at those who disagreed with him. He even threatened to fire them. One said, “You couldn’t challenge him.”
After he was hired, the company’s open culture changed. Transparency disappeared.
After Mr. Byron joined Cybereason as a chief revenue officer in 2017, many sales team members left. He brought in new people from his old company, Fuze. Out of about 65 sales staff, only one may still remain.
The company grew from 200 to 350 employees since early 2017. CEO Lior Div said it had needed the “right DNA” to grow, so they changed many people. Some liked the changes, others didn’t.
Byron said on LinkedIn that he had been hired to help Cybereason grow, which needed “tough decisions” that upset some. He denied any conflicts with staff. Mr. Div called him a “very solid sales leader”. Sales rose 140% in 2017. In early 2018, targets were beaten by 150%.
Andy Byron became the CEO of Astronomer in July 2023. In May, the company raised $93 million, backed by big firms like Bain Capital and Salesforce.
Who is Andy Byron’s wife?
Andy Byron is married to Megan Kerrigan Byron. Kristin Cabot, seen with him, divorced her husband in 2022. It’s not known if she has remarried since then.
His LinkedIn page was taken down on July 17.