What did Astronomer co-founder Ry Walker say about Andy Byron's resignation? Leadership reacts to viral video

Ry Walker, the co-founder of Astronomer, took to X to voice out his opinions about Andy Byron, Astronomer's former CEO. On July 18, Walker answered a question about his experience and skills as the CEO of Astronomer back in 2015 to 2019. To this he added by writing:

"Answered a couple questions today priviately, figure I should post it here as well since I can't respond to everyone individually > If you had to define Andy Byron in a few words—professionally or personally—how would you describe him?"

He answered in the following paragraph:

"I’ve found Andy to be professional, I’ve only ever been on a call with him once. Everyone on the team has praised his leadership to me. So I think this is an unfortunate development that comes as a big surprise."

While Ry Walker had nothing bad to say about Andy Byron, he admitted that the incident came as a surprise because of how professional he found Byron to be.

What did Ry Walker have to say about his time at Astronomer?

Prior to talking about Andy Byron, Ry Walker has been answering a few questions privately, as the co-founder of Astronomer. One of the questions he was asked was:

"How does your experience as CEO at @tembo compare to your time leading @astronomerio ?"

Ry Walker answered by saying:

"I was CEO for Astronomer from 2015-2019, basically until we hit serious traction. At that point, I brought in an experienced CEO for the growth stage. That decision turned out very well for the company, and me personally — I don't regret it at all."

He added:

"However, with that experience banked, I now have a lot more confidence to remain CEO through the growth phase that we're experiencing at Tembo — I’m excited to go further as CEO with Tembo vs. last time. We've got an amazing product and an amazing team, and an amazing opportunity to build a great company."

What did Astronomer have to say about Andy Byron?

After Andy Byron resigned as CEO of Astronomer on July 19, 2025. The company took to LinkedIn to address what was needed. They wrote:

"As stated previously, 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. Andy Byron has tendered his resignation, and the Board of Directors has accepted."

They continued to elaborate, saying that the company is currently open for the position of CEO. The statement reads:

"The Board will begin a search for our next Chief Executive as Cofounder and Chief Product Officer Pete DeJoy continues to serve as interim CEO. Before this week, we were known as a pioneer in the DataOps space, helping data teams power everything from modern analytics to production AI."

They also assured their clients that the quality of their work has not decreased because of the recent hiccup in the company. They clarified:

"While awareness of our company may have changed overnight, our product and our work for our customers have not. We're continuing to do what we do best: helping our customers with their toughest data and AI problems."

After Ry Walker stepped down as Astronomer's CEO in 2019, Andy Byron took on the helm as CEO in 2023. According to the Economic Times, Byron is expected to have a net worth of $20 million to $70 million.

×

Was this article helpful?

Thank You for feedback