Kristin Cabot, Astronomer HR chief faces grief future both professionally and personally after Astronomer CEO, Andy Boyd resigning. How a double life led to ruin.
The future of Astronomer HR chief, Kristin Cabot looks shambolic, both professionally and personally (the same could be said of her co cheating partner, married father of two, Andy Boyd) following news of the Astronomer CEO’s forced resignation on Saturday.
Rumored to be on a pay package north of $500K plus, Cabot, 52, seemingly had everything to live for. Newly married to Privateer Rum CEO, Andrew Cabot, a mega millionaire, with whom the newly married woman had only last year bought a $2.2 million estate in Rye, NY along with bagging a pivotal role as HR chief with Astronomer in November.
Why hasn’t Astronomer fired its HR chief?
What in the world?? This is the response of @astronomerio CEO Andy Byron after Coldplay’s Chris Martin accidentally exposes astronomer CEO Andy Byron having an affair with his HR chief Kristin Cabot.
It has been revealed Byron. You are a GIGANTIC Doooosh! pic.twitter.com/EC94nX9SQ7
— Professor Nez (@professornez) July 17, 2025
What recourse does Astronomer have at its disposal?
Cabot was effectively living the American dream. A dream that has now become a nightmare after what Cabot and Boyd had thought would be an innocent evening of mischief when they decided to attend a Coldplay concert on Wednesday, leading to the outing of their double lives after ‘kiss-cam’ video suddenly flashed their ‘canoodling’ for the world to see.
Quipped, Coldplay frontman, Chris Martin, 48, ‘Oh look at these two! Oh what? and further adding, ‘…either they’re having an affair’ or were just very bashful.’
In the immediate days following the alleged extramarital affair coming to light, Astronomer had declined to publicly address the indiscretion, while notably removing a previous announcement of Cabot’s hiring late last year on their LinkedIn page. The symbolic gesture spelt doom for both Cabot and Boyd.
Then on Friday, Astronomer released a statement that it was launching an investigation into the alleged indescretions.
‘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,’ the tech-and-data firm said in a statement.
Astronomer HR Chief future uncertain
While commentators on the web speculated that the extramarital affair was an open secret, that was likely tolerated and kept private, others wondered how Cabot who as chief of HR, was able to command rank and file when she was going against employee protocol.
Concerns over the HR’s exec’s behavior has led to some labor lawyers suggesting that Cabot will likely be replaced as chief of HR, given her actions send the wrong message as ‘leading by example’ as she had previously advocated upon being brought on in November, 2024.
‘It’s horrible because she is the head of HR! She’s involved in an extramarital affair with the CEO. Basically, how much worse of an HR faux pas could you commit?’ employment lawyer William Cafaro, co-counsel at NYC firm, Buzin Law, told the nypost.
‘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 added.
Any action against Cabot, including possible removal if it is deemed that she had violated company policies, including ethics violations, would be left up to the five other members on the board of directors.
Both Byron and Cabot’s LinkedIn accounts were inactive as of Friday afternoon as Astronomer continue investigating their dalliance, including how long it had been going on, who else at the firm knew and whether codes of ethics and company policy were broken.
Also not immediately clear is the status of Cabot’s relationship with her CEO husband, when exactly Andrew and Kristin Cabot tied the knot and how long the couple have been together, and how recently she had begun seeing Byron who had previously enthused about bringing her on as HR chief in November.
Gushed the CEO of his new hire: ‘She is a proven leader at multiple growth-stage companies and her passion for fostering diverse, collaborative workplaces makes her a perfect fit for Astronomer.’
‘I have been energized in my conversations with Andy Byron and the Astronomer leadership team about the opportunities that exist here, including aiding our employees’ career development,’ Cabot stated in response.
