Co-Founders want ousted Web Summit CEO to divest

Sopuruchi Onwuka

Co-founders of Europe’s largest technology conference, the Web Summit, have demanded the ousted Chief Executive Officer, Paddy Cosgrave, to sell his majority stake in its parent company to save the company from industry indignation.

Mass resentment towards the company came after Cosgrave made a public declaration condemning Israel’s retaliatory strikes against Gaza from where HAMAS militants launched deadly incursions that led to the death of children, youths, the elderly, the disabled and even babies in Southern Israel.

The war in Gaza has set the entire world on divisive paths with ancient foes aligning with Israel or Palestine.

Israeli companies and companies with Jewish ties hold enormous influence in the global tech community and form major sponsors of the Web Summit which holds annually in Europe.

But with the abrasive remarks of Cosgrave, most of the companies now wish to dissociate from the conference; entailing a wave of sponsorship and participation cancellations from world’s biggest tech companies. Cosgrave resigned after his posts on the Israel-Hamas war threatened the flagship event scheduled to start on Nov. 13 in Lisbon. Filings show that Cosgrave owns 81% of Manders Terrace Limited, the firm that controls Web Summit.

Israel had immediately deployed its full diplomatic strength in dismantling Cosgrave who has since apologized for accusing the embattled Jewish state of war crimes in Gaza. He also pulled out his social media handles and resigned from the position of CEO of the company which now struggles to regain its reputation.

David Kelly and Daire Hickey, who are the only other shareholders in Web Summit’s holding company, wrote to the board arguing Cosgrave’s continued ownership puts the future of the business at risk, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Kelly and Hickey asked the board to pursue all options, including a possible sale, said the person, who asked not to be identified because the letter was not public.

A Web Summit spokesperson and lawyers representing Kelly and Hickey declined to comment, while Cosgrave did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Kelly and Hickey have been embroiled in legal battles with Cosgrave for several years in Irish courts over the proceeds from their business and other matters.

In a blog post, Web Summit said Cosgrave also stepped down from its board. The remaining directors include three people who work for the conference and Nathan Hubbard, a former executive with Ticketmaster and Twitter. Hubbard didn’t respond to a request for comment.

Web Summit’s annual event in Lisbon draws some 70,000 technologists, politicians and celebrities. Several investors canceled their participation after Cosgrave criticized western support for Israel on X, formerly Twitter, earlier this month.

They were followed by a wave of companies pulling out, including Google parent Alphabet Inc., Meta Platforms Inc., Amazon.com Inc. and Intel Corp.

The scandal has extended to Cosgrave’s venture capital firm that is affiliated with the conference, Web Summit Ventures.

Rob Frohwein, the former CEO of online lender Kabbage, told agency sources he was “disappointed” with Cosgrave’s comments and has begun the process to withdraw his money from the fund.

Cosgrave’s flippant post which was obviously rising on the wave of anti-Semitic sentiments propelled by Islamic propaganda shows how reckless CEOs could rapidly bring down a promising firms.