Web Summit appoints new CEO after predecessor quit over Israel-Hamas comments

Web Summit has appointed former Wikimedia Foundation CEO Katherine Maher as chief executive following the resignation of Paddy Cosgrave, whose comments on the Israel-Hamas conflict prompted some companies to withdraw from an upcoming conference.
Cosgrave, who founded Web Summit, resigned as CEO earlier this month, saying his personal comments on the conflict had become a distraction from Web Summit 2023 in Lisbon, one of the world’s largest tech conferences, which is due to start on Nov. 13.
Maher led Wikimedia Foundation, the global nonprofit behind Wikipedia, for five years and is chair of messaging platform Signal Messenger, a Web Summit statement said.
Cosgrave drew criticism for a post on social media platform X relating to Israel’s deadly air strikes on the Gaza Strip in retaliation for Palestinian militant group Hamas’ mass killings in Israel on Oct. 7, saying “War crimes are war crimes even when committed by allies”.