Web Summit

Web Summit co-founders call on ousted chief executive Paddy Cosgrave to sell stake

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

Cosgrave resigned last weekend after his posts on the Israel-Hamas war prompted high-profile investors and companies to withdraw from his flagship event. Picture: Filipe Amorim / Global Images/Sipa US

The co-founders of Web Summit, Europe’s largest technology conference, are calling on Paddy Cosgrave, the company’s former chief executive, to sell his majority stake in its parent company after a firestorm over his remarks on social media about Israel.

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 ...