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Paddy Cosgrave has stepped down as CEO of Web Summit, the 14-year-old conference business that he cofounded and which has gone on to host one of Europe\u2019s biggest annual tech events, along with four other events around the globe.<\/p>\n
Following a week of controversy surrounding comments Cosgrave made about Israel and Palestine, he wrote in a statement provided earlier today to TechCrunch that: \u201cI 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.\u201d<\/p>\n
The conference organizers tell TechCrunch they will be appointing a new CEO \u201cas soon as possible\u201d and that \u201cWeb Summit 2023 in Lisbon will go ahead as planned.\u201d<\/p>\n
The move comes on the heels of a series of remarks from Cosgrave \u2014 in the wake of Hamas\u2019s October 7 attack on Israel, wherein 1,400 mostly civilians were killed and more than 4,000 were injured \u2014 that set off a chain of angry responses<\/a> from Israelis and increasingly a wider swath of people throughout the technology community.<\/p>\n Initially writing<\/a> that he was shocked at the rhetoric and actions of \u201cso many Western leaders & governments\u201d as Israel planned its counterstrike, and that \u201cwar crimes are war crimes even when committed by allies, and should be called out for what they are,\u201d Cosgrave\u2019s comments prompted widespread outrage, with numerous venture capitalists and founders vowing to never again speak at one of Web Summit\u2019s events.<\/p>\n Among them was David Marcus, the longtime fintech entrepreneur and Meta executive, who last Sunday wrote on X <\/a>: \u201cSaddened by your ill-informed stance. You could\u2019ve taken a more nuanced one, condemning these atrocities and calling for restraint. That would\u2019ve been acceptable. You chose to support terrorists. As such I\u2019ll never attend\/sponsor\/speak at any of your events again.\u201d<\/p>\n Cosgrave appeared to walk back his statement this past Monday, writing,\u00a0 \u201cWe are devastated to see the terrible killings and the level of innocent civilian casualties in Israel and Gaza. We condemn the attacks by Hamas and extend our deepest sympathies to everyone who has lost loved ones. We hope for peaceful reconciliation.\u201d But he subsequently dug in his heels, tweeting soon afterward: \u201cTo repeat: War crimes are war crimes even when committed by allies & should be called out for what they are. I will not relent.\u201d<\/p>\n