Web Summit names Katherine Maher as new CEO after row over Israel

Technology conference Web Summit has named Katherine Maher, the former head of the Wikimedia Foundation, as its new chief executive officer, replacing co-founder Paddy Cosgrave.

Europe’s largest tech event, which starts on November 13, has had weeks of turmoil after Cosgrave’s social media posts about the Israel-Hamas war prompted waves of investors and companies to pull out. Cosgrave resigned as CEO on October 21.

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 October 7, saying “War crimes are war crimes even when committed by allies.”

In a later statement, Cosgrove condemned Hamas’ October 7 assault, and said that “what I said, the timing of what I said, and the way it has been presented has caused upset to many.”

Maher has held several roles at the intersection of the tech industry and civil society, including five years in charge of the Wikimedia Foundation, the global non-profit that runs Wikipedia. She is the chair of messaging platform Signal Messenger, a Web Summit statement said.

“In recent weeks Web Summit has been at the center of the conversation, rather than the host. Its purpose was overshadowed by the personal comments of the event’s founder and former CEO, Paddy Cosgrave,” Maher said in a blog post announcing her appointment. “Today Web Summit is entering its next phase.”

In a release on Monday, Web Summit said it had also named the entrepreneur Damian Kimmelman as a non-executive board member.

Cosgrave stepped down from the board, but remains the majority shareholder of the company behind Web Summit, according to most recent public filings. His two co-founders wrote privately to board directors calling for Cosgrave to sell his shares due to the ongoing risk his association posed to Web Summit, Bloomberg News reported last week.