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The Story: On Saturday, Paddy Cosgrave, the co-founder and CEO of Web Summit, one of the largest tech conferencing companies in the world, resigned after receiving backlash for his comments on the war in Israel.

On October 13th, Cosgrave wrote this on X: “I’m shocked at the rhetoric and actions of so many Western leaders & governments…War crimes are war crimes even when committed by allies, and should be called out for what they are.”

The post was met with pushback on social media, but Cosgrave doubled down on his stance a few days later:

In response to the posts by Web Summit’s CEO, big tech companies like Meta, Amazon, and Google withdrew from the tech conference, as well as several other speakers, sponsors, and the Israeli government.

The day after he doubled down on X, Cosgrave issued an apology on Web Summit’s website stating, quote, “I understand that what I said, the timing of what I said, and the way it has been presented has caused profound hurt to many. To anyone who was hurt by my words, I apologise deeply. What is needed at this time is compassion, and I did not convey that. My aim is and always has been to strive for peace. Ultimately, I hope with all my heart that this can be achieved.”

On Saturday (four days later), Cosgrave announced that he was resigning as CEO.

Web Summit still plans to host its upcoming conference in Lisbon, Portugal in November.