What’s next for Andy Byron?
The previously non-famous tech CEO was caught canoodling last week with his company’s HR chief, Kristin Cabot — a woman who is not his wife — on the jumbotron at a Coldplay concert in Boston, in an image called out by frontman Chris Martin. The viral incident immediately sparked an unprecedented social media firestorm and causing his once prosperous, high-powered life to unravel.
Over the weekend, Byron resigned from his position at Astronomer, the $1.3 billion AI company he helped found, the New York Post reported. The company announced his resignation by saying that its leaders are “expected to set the standard in both conduct and accountability, and recently, that standard was not met.”
Now, the internet is speculating about the state of Byron’s marriage, with the New York Post also reporting that should his wife, Megan Kerrigan, choose to divorce him, she would be entitled to half his fortune.
During Byron’s career in tech, which included a stint at the Silicon Valley-based company Lacework, the disgraced Massachusetts-based business leader had amassed a fortune estimated to be $20 million to $70 million, the Economic Times reported. He and Kerrigan have raised two sons and share a home in Northborough, a suburb of Boston, near Gillette Stadium, where the Coldplay concert took place.
Massachusetts’s 50-50 marital laws say that those married for more than seven years must split any assets they built together, matrimony and family lawyer Nancy Chemtob, a partner at Chemtob Moss Forman & Beyda, told the New York Post.
“It’s obviously a long-term relationship,” Chemtob said of Byron and Kerrigan.
The New York Post also reported that Byron likely worked out a deal with Astronomer, allowing him to resign, instead of being fired, so that he would leave with a lucrative buy-out package.
Neither Byron nor Kerrigan have commented on the scandal, and Kerrigan certainly hasn’t let the public know her thoughts on the future of her marriage. But the morning after the Coldplay concert, Kerrigan switched to her maiden name on her social medial profile, according to the New York Post and other outlets. She later deleted her account altogether. Byron and Cabot, meanwhile, also deleted their LinkedIn accounts.
Kerrigan and the rest of her family were quickly engulfed in the scandal after a TikToker shared a video from the Coldplay concert at Gillette Stadium. The video showed frontman Martin noticing Byron and Cabot on the “kiss cam,” embracing each other like they were madly in love.
But the video also showed Byron and Cabot’s shocked reactions as they realized their PDA was being projected to a crowd of 55,000 people. Cabot quickly turned her face from the camera, while Byron ducked behind a barrier, exclaiming “(Expletive) hell, it’s me,” according to the Daily Mail. Martin laughed uncomfortably and said, “Either they’re having an affair or they’re just very shy.”
Byron and Cabot were quickly identified online as being executives at Astronomer, which is officially based in New York City. The company has since been in damage control, insisting last that it had launched an internal investigation “into the matter.”
There’s no word yet on Cabot’s fate with the company, except that she’s been placed on leave, the New York Post said in another report. She, too, appears to be married, but much more recently. Her husband reportedly is Andrew Cabot, the owner of Privateer Rum and a member of one of the oldest and wealthiest families in Boston. Andrew Cabot also would be Kristin Cabot’s second husband; a previous marriage ended in divorce was finalized in 2022.
Employment lawyers have said that the situation for Astronomer and for all the people involved is complicated by the fact that Cabot is the company’s “Chief People Officer.” That is, she leads the human resources department, which typically handles and oversees conflicts related to romantic relationships in the workplace.
“It’s horrible because she is the head of HR!” New York City-based employment lawyer William Cafaro told the Post. “She’s (allegedly) involved in an extramarital affair with the CEO. Basically, how much worse of an HR faux pas could you commit?”
In fact, Cafaro expected that Cabot would face consequences sooner at the company than Byron.
“I would say she’s just about certain to be removed from her position, because how can you have someone in HR who is having an affair with the CEO imposing or making disciplinary decisions over any other employees? That’s ludicrous,” Cafaro said.
