Paddy Cosgrave has resigned as CEO of Web Summit, a conference business he co-founded 14 years ago. The decision to step down followed a week of controversy over comments he made about Israel and Palestine. In a statement provided to TechCrunch, Cosgrave mentioned, “I am resigning as CEO of Web Summit with immediate effect. Unfortunately, my personal comments have become a distraction from the event, and our team, our sponsors, our startups and the people who attend. I sincerely apologize again for any hurt I have caused.” The conference organizers plan to appoint a new CEO soon, and Web Summit 2023 in Lisbon will proceed as planned.
The controversy stemmed from remarks made by Cosgrave in response to the conflict between Israel and Hamas. His initial comments, criticizing Western leaders and calling for war crimes to be called out, sparked outrage and led to several prominent figures in the technology community vowing not to participate in Web Summit events. Cosgrave later expressed condolences for the casualties and called for peaceful reconciliation but maintained his stance on war crimes.
As a result of this controversy, not only did individuals boycott the event, but corporations like Alphabet, Meta, Intel, Siemens, and Stripe also withdrew their participation. Last year, Web Summit attracted over 70,000 attendees over three days.
