The biggest business story of the last week has had nothing to do with tariffs, M&A, finance or earnings. It’s a relatively minor scandal. And since we’re all online, we’ve all seen it more times than we care to count: Former Astronomer CEO Andy Bryon was caught on camera at a Coldplay concert canoodling with the company’s Chief People Officer Kristen Cabot.

On Friday, both Bryon and Cabot were placed on leave pending an investigation from the company’s board. On Saturday, Bryon resigned. “Our leaders are expected to set the standard in both conduct and accountability, and recently, that standard was not met,” the company said on X. Chief Product Officer and cofounder Pete DeJoy is taking over as interim CEO while Bryon’s replacement is sought.

Astronomer’s company name has been dragged through the mud, though the vast majority of people sharing the image of Bryon and Cabot probably could not even describe what the company does. Astronomer is a company that uses Apache Airflow to manage data operations, helping companies leverage data for AI integration, application development and unlock deeper insights. The company closed a $93 million Series D round in May, led by Bain Capital Ventures and Salesforce Ventures. The press release detailing the funding round highlights several key accomplishments over the past 12 months: 150% year-over-year recurring revenue growth, 130% net revenue retention, and a two-year path to profitability. The company was valued at more than $1 billion at the time of the funding round.

Will the new exposure and speedy investigation ultimately bring Astronomer more business? Or will Bryon and Cabot’s viral moment cost the company customers? It’s doubtful on both counts. As a B2B tech company, Astronomer’s external reputation probably won’t come into play. And in a few months the general public may still be talking about the Coldplay kiss cam moment, but they most likely won’t be talking about Astronomer as a company. Will the viral moment make fundraising more difficult? Potentially, since company leaders are the ones who need to steward new money, and poor personal choices of former executives may reflect badly on the board members and leaders who hired them in the first place.

This serves as a reminder that executives always represent their companies–even during off-hours. This viral moment might have been forgotten by now if it didn’t involve two leaders of a company. Byron and Cabot’s positions add a layer of gawking and gossip, bringing a tech company into many conversations where it never would have found itself otherwise.

Even as the global economy has grown more cautious and uncertain, Unilever has been on a steady path. I spoke with Herrish Patel, president of Unilever USA and CEO of its Personal Care division, about the company’s growth and plans for the future. An excerpt from our conversation is later in this newsletter.

A trader on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange last week.

What cautious economy? Looking at the top-line financial numbers from last week, stocks surged as many companies reported better-than-expected profits. The S&P 500 set a new record high on Thursday, as 88% of companies........

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