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Paddy Cosgrave resigns as CEO of Web Summit with ‘immediate effect’

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Paddy Cosgrave in Profile

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Paddy Cosgrave, the chief executive officer of Web Summit, is resigning from the tech company, the Sunday Independent understands.

In a statement released this afternoon Mr Cosgrave said: “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 apologise again for any hurt I have caused.”

A Web Summit spokesperson confirmed that they will appoint a new CEO as soon as possible, and Web Summit 2023 in Lisbon will go ahead as planned.

In a speech to staff yesterday, Mr Cosgrave said: “I’m sincerely sorry. My actions have placed many of you in a situation or if you have received the most hateful and hurtful messages I think anyone can receive.

“COVID-19 in 2020 and 2021 nearly bankrupted Web Summit. We survived last year, we dealt with over 200 speaker cancellations, some driven by the presence of journalists who many felt were pro-Russian and hostile to Ukraine.

“To be fair, it’s nothing compared to what has just happened and what lies ahead. You won’t like to hear this, but I think it should be said I think things will get an awful lot worse over the coming 10 days before they start to get better. But they will get better.”

Meanwhile, staff at the Web Summit have been told by executives that their jobs are not currently under threat due to the escalating boycott from major technology firms of the event.

The company employs 200 people at its Dublin headquarters out of a total of over 300 around the world.

However, staff have also been told that this is the biggest threat to the company’s existence since Covid.

The assurances come amid fears over the future of the company as Amazon joined Google, Meta, Intel, Stripe and dozens of senior technology executives in withdrawing from the Lisbon conference next month over remarks made by CEO Paddy Cosgrave about Israel.

Executives in the company are bracing for further withdrawals from the conference on November 13th. The event had been planning to host up to 70,000 people.

A spokesperson for the Web Summit was unavailable to comment on how many attendees are now expected. On Friday, a company spokesperson said that the event still expected to run “a full programme”.

Withdrawals continued into Saturday, with Stripe confirming that it will not now have any presence at the Web Summit. The Irish-American payments firm, founded by Patrick and John Collison, had said that two of its speakers had dropped out in a personal decision-making capacity. However, it will not have anyone from the company showing up.

Influential US marketing expert and podcaster Scott Galloway, a professor of marketing at New York University, also confirmed he has pulled out as a speaker, while the US comedian, Amy Poehler, who was due to speak at the event, is also no longer on the list of speakers on the Web Summit website. Actor Joseph Gordon-Levitt and rapper LL Cool J had on Thursday disappeared from the site, while Sex Education actor Gillian Anderson confirmed she had pulled out.

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In his apology during the week, Mr Cosgrave said: “I understand that what I said, the timing of what I said, and the way it has been presented has caused profound hurt to many. To anyone who was hurt by my words, I apologise deeply.

“What is needed at this time is compassion, and I did not convey that. My aim is and always has been to strive for peace.”

When asked for comment in relation to the number of speakers still participating at the event next month, a Web Summit spokesperson said they were unable to comment due to “privacy and confidentiality purposes”.

“We are in discussion with a few speakers and companies about their presence at Web Summit,” the spokesperson said.

The Web Summit is currently planning to hold its next event in Qatar in February.

It also holds annual events in Toronto and Rio and is planning to revive its Hong Kong conference, Rise, in 2025.