The chief executive of Web Summit, one of Europe’s largest technology conferences, resigned on Saturday after key sponsors and speakers withdrew from the event planned for next month following strong backlash over his public criticism of Israel’s response to the Hamas attacks.
Paddy Cosgrave, the Irish entrepreneur who founded Web Summit in 2009, announced his resignation after companies including Google, Intel, Meta, Siemens and payments giant Stripe – many of whose executives were due to give speeches at the event – said they would not more the case is coming.
“Unfortunately, my personal comments distract from the event and our team, our sponsors, our startups and the people in attendance,” he said in a statement. “I once again sincerely apologize for the harm I have caused.”
A spokeswoman for Web Summit said the organization wanted to appoint a new executive director as soon as possible. The event, scheduled to begin on November 13th, is ongoing.
Mr. Cosgrave’s move was intended to isolate Web Summit, which runs events worldwide. The flagship conference, currently taking place in Lisbon, attracted around 70,000 participants last year, including both senior technology executives and celebrities.
Since the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, business leaders have targeted institutions they say are associated with unfair criticism of Israel or worse. In the United States, wealthy donors have threatened to withhold donations to schools such as the University of Pennsylvania and Harvard.
The problems at the Web Summit began just over a week after Mr. Cosgrave criticized Western leaders and governments for supporting Israel in its response to the Hamas attack. “War crimes are war crimes even when committed by allies, and they should be called out for what they are.” he wrote on X on Oct. 13.
His comments were rebuked by prominent technology executives, particularly from Israel. “I will never be part of your future initiatives and we will never work together again.” Adam Singoldareplied the Israeli-born founder of advertising company Taboola.
Within days of publication, venture capitalists including Ravi Gupta of Sequoia Capital and Garry Tan of technology incubator Y Combinator said they were exiting.
Some tech executives worked behind the scenes to pressure participants to withdraw. According to the trade publication Calcalist, a group of Israeli technology and venture capital firms wrote in a public letter that they would boycott the event.
At first, Mr. Cosgrave struck an alternately apologetic and defensive tone, condemning Hamas’ attacks but also reiterating his criticism of the Israeli military campaign. But on Tuesday he posted an apology on the Web Summit website, saying he was defending “Israel’s right to exist and defend itself.”
That didn’t seem to appease Mr. Cosgrave’s critics.
As of midweek, tech giants announced they would not be attending the conference. And non-tech figures originally listed as speakers at the event, including actors Gillian Anderson and Joseph Gordon-Levitt, were no longer mentioned on Web Summit’s website as of Saturday.
Whether Mr Cosgrave’s departure will be enough to bring back those who have withdrawn is unclear. Representatives from Intel and Deel, a global payroll company that dropped its sponsorship of the Web Summit midweek, said there are currently no plans to return.
Some critics on Saturday also questioned whether Mr. Cosgrave would continue to retain his majority stake in Web Summit. According to company records in Ireland, its share was 81 percent last summer. A representative for Web Summit did not respond to requests for comment about its ownership.
It’s unclear how many people will attend this year, although Web Summit said Friday that about 70,000 people are expected at the event, the same as last year.