Tech company CEO resigns after controversial video

Washington: The IT company CEO captured in a widely circulated video showing him embracing an employee at a Coldplay concert has resigned.

Andy Byron resigned from his job as CEO of Cincinnati-based Astronomer Inc., according to a statement posted on LinkedIn by the company Saturday.

“Astronomer is committed to the values and culture that have guided us since our founding. Our leaders are expected to set the standard in both conduct and accountability, and recently, that standard was not met,” the company said in its post on LinkedIn.

The move comes a day after the company said that Byron had been placed on leave and the board of directors had launched a formal investigation into the jumbotron incident, which went viral. A company spokesman later confirmed in a statement to AP that it was Byron and Astronomer chief people officer Kristin Cabot in the video.

The short video clip shows Byron and Cabot as captured on the jumbotron at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts, during a Coldplay concert on Wednesday.

Lead singer Chris Martin asked the cameras to scan the crowd for his “Jumbotron Song,” when he sings a few lines about the people the camera lands on.

“Either they’re having an affair or they’re just very shy,” he joked.

Internet sleuths identified the man as the chief executive officer of a US-based company and the woman as its chief people officer.