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As first reported in Bloomberg, Paddy Cosgrave has stepped down as CEO of Web Summit, the now 14-year-old conferences business he founded and which is one of Europe’s largest annual tech events. Has hosted one as well as four other programs. Earth.
The move follows comments Cosgrave made to Ax last Friday, October 13, following Hamas attacks on Israel on October 7. Initially writing that “war crimes are war crimes even when committed by allies,” Cosgrave’s comments caused widespread outrage, with many venture capitalists and founders vowing never to speak at any Web Summit event again. Is. They also included longtime fintech entrepreneur and Meta executive David Marcus, who last Sunday written on x : “Disgusted by your ill-informed stance. You could have been more nuanced in condemning these atrocities and calling for restraint. This would have been acceptable. You chose to support terrorists. Thus, I will never be able to attend/sponsor/speak at any of your events again.”
Cosgrave later apologized on Web Summit’s site, writing, “I understand that many people were deeply hurt by what I said, the timing of what I said, and the way it was presented.” But the damage was done. In addition to a growing boycott of the event driven by these same investors, a number of corporates have also begun pulling out of Web Summit, which will kick off its signature show in Lisbon in a little more than three weeks.
Yesterday, Alphabet and Meta said they were pulling out of the show; Before them, Intel, Siemens and Stripe announced that they were also exiting the program.
Web Summit organizers have released a statement saying they will appoint a new CEO as soon as possible and that the show, which was scheduled to begin on November 13, is going on as scheduled.
“Unfortunately, my personal comments have become a distraction from the program and our team, our sponsors, our startups, and the people who participate in it,” Cosgrave said in the statement. “I again sincerely apologize for any hurt I may have caused.”
Last year, Web Summit attracted more than 70,000 attendees over three days.
We’ve contacted Web Summit and Cosgrave for comment.
