The co-founder of WebSummit, Paddy Cosgrave, is back as CEO of the event. Remember that Cosgrave left his position as leader of the organization in October 2023 following comments about the conflict between Israel and Hamas.
Cosgrave was, at the time, replaced by Katherine Maher whose leadership lasted less than three months. With Maher already out of the Web Summit and leading National Public Radio (NPR), Cosgrave returns to lead the event and spoke about the topic in a post shared on the social network X (formerly Twitter).
Today I'm returning as CEO of @WebSummit.
When I stepped back last year, it was the first time I had taken time off in 15 years. It gave me time 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… pic.twitter.com/cDu33kS1tP
— Paddy Cosgrave (@paddycosgrave) April 8, 2024
“When I left [the CEO role] last year, it was the first time I had taken time off in 15 years. It gave me time to think about the Web Summit, its history, why I started it all from my room and what I wanted it to be”, explained Cosgrave, noting that these months allowed us to hear feedback from people who have already participated in past editions.
“If anything, I want to fuel this mission further to build even stronger communities within Web Summit”, noted Cosgrave. “In a very real sense, as Web Summit gets bigger, our goal should be to make it smaller for our attendees. More intimate. With more conviviality. More community focused. We will seed small communities at our events and then help those communities thrive long after each event".
