Web Summit CEO returns six months after stepping down over Israel remarks

Paddy Cosgrave, the head of Web Summit who resigned in October after a backlash over his comments criticising Israel’s actions in Gaza, has returned to his role nearly six months on.

Cosgrave stepped down in October and posted an apology after Israeli tech leaders said they would boycott his conference and several leading investors and companies including Alphabet, Meta and Intel withdrew from the high-profile event following his remarks.

Cosgrave had condemned Israel’s retaliatory action in Gaza via tweets on X, where he stated: “War crimes are war crimes even when committed by allies, and should be called out for what they are.”

But on Monday he announced on X that he would be returning to “supercharge this mission even further to build even stronger communities within Web Summit.”

He posted: “When I stepped back last, it was the first time I had taken off in 15 years. It gave me to think about Web Summit, its history, why I started it on my own from my bedroom and what I wanted it to be. 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. In a very real sense, as Web Summit becomes bigger, our aim should be to make it smaller for our attendees. More intimate. More convivial. More community focused. We will seed small communities at our events, and then help those communities thrive long after each event.” There was no mention of his comments from last October that had led to his resignation.

Cosgrave co-founded Web Summit in Dublin in 2009. It is Europe’s biggest technology conference.