Web Summit has a new CEO – Katherine Maher replaces Paddy Cosgrave
Katherine Maher has become the new CEO of the Web Summit technology conference. In this position, she replaced the event’s co-founder Paddy Cosgrave, reports Bloomberg.
The changes in Web Summit’s management occurred after the recent Paddy Cosgrave scandal. He was forced to resign as CEO on October 21 after a series of controversial comments on Israel and Palestine.
This happened when he commented on the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel, which resulted in significant civilian casualties. Paddy Cosgrave’s statements were widely criticized, and many investors, founders, and representatives of the IT industry refused to participate in the Web Summit.
This is not the first time that Katherine Maher has held high positions. For example, for five years she was the executive director of the Wikimedia Foundation, which supports the work of Wikipedia. She also has experience at the World Bank and UNICEF.
These are not the only changes in the Web Summit lineup. Entrepreneur Damian Kimmelman has been appointed a non-executive member of the event’s board.