Lisbon: Paddy Cosgrave, the co-founder of Web Summit, has returned as chief executive officer (CEO) after stepping down six months ago. Cosgrave faced criticism for comments he made that were critical of Israel.
In a statement, he said that his time away from the annual Web Summit, one of the world’s largest tech conferences, allowed him to reflect on the event and what he wanted it to be. Further, he added that thinking about “Why I started it on my own from my bedroom and what I wanted it to be.”
The Web Summit Co-Founder noted in a post on X that, “I took the time to reconnect with old Web Summit friends and I listened to what they had to say and what they wanted from Web Summit. Some incredible tech advancements, relationships, partnerships, and companies have grown from our events and I want to continue building on this. If anything I want to supercharge this mission even further to build even stronger communities within Web Summit.”
The summit could be made more intimate and community-centric in the future, Paddy Cosgrave said. “We will seed small communities at our events, and then help those communities thrive long after each event,” he expressed, adding that he was extremely excited for the future.
In October, the Irish entrepreneur resigned from his role as head of a conference based in Lisbon. This was due to criticism he received over a social media post he made, which accused Israel of committing war crimes in Gaza. Despite the controversy caused by his remarks, the co-founder of the conference returned to the event but did not address the issue during the summit.
“I’m shocked at the rhetoric and actions of so many Western leaders & governments, with the exception in particular of Ireland’s government, who for once are doing the right thing. War crimes are war crimes even when committed by allies, and should be called out for what they are,” he said in his X post.
Several technology companies, including Google, Amazon, Meta, Stripe, and Siemens, withdrew from a conference after remarks made by Paddy Cosgrave. The CEO later clarified that he unreservedly condemned the ‘disgusting and monstrous’ attack by Hamas on Israel in October and that Israel had the right to defend itself, but it must follow international law. Cosgrave resigned from the board of directors after his remarks became a distraction from the event.
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