Ex-Wikimedia Executive Appointed as Web Summit's CEO

Subscribe to Newsletter

Ex-Wikimedia Executive Appointed as Web Summit's CEO

30.10.2023 30 October 2023
4558
1 min.
8 connections

Leadership Change at Web Summit

Tech conference powerhouse, Web Summit, has announced Katherine Maher as its new Chief Executive Officer, succeeding Paddy Cosgrave. Maher, renowned for her previous role as the head of the Wikimedia Foundation and most recently as the Chair of the Board for Signal, an encrypted messaging app, brings her exceptional leadership to the helm of Web Summit.

Web Summit stands as one of the world's premier tech events, with its upcoming conference in Lisbon, Portugal, commencing on November 13th, positioned as the largest tech gathering in Europe.

This appointment comes swiftly on the heels of Paddy Cosgrave's resignation as Web Summit CEO. While Cosgrave retains an 80% ownership stake in the company he co-founded, his departure follows a controversy surrounding comments he made regarding Israel's response to the October 7th attack by Hamas.

These comments had the potential to disrupt the event, leading to the withdrawal of high-profile attendees, investors, and companies, including notable names like Google, Stripe, and Garry Tan of YCombinator. In response to the turmoil, Cosgrave issued an apology and officially resigned on October 21st.

Katherine Maher, in a letter published on Monday, characterized herself as a devoted advocate for free and open societies. She expressed her commitment to leading Web Summit into a new phase, promising an exceptional event in the coming weeks and outlining plans for an even brighter future with global events.

MAHER Katherine

Chair of the board of directors at the Signal Foundation
#3603
COSGRAVE Patrick

Irish entrepreneur
#3618
TAN Garry

Chief Executive Officer of Y Combinator
#3632
Google (Alphabet Inc)

#49
Stripe

#809
Signal

#3276
The Wikimedia Foundation

#1351
Y Combinator Management, LLC (YC)

#1367

Tags:

Section: business

<!-- advertisement 10-->
<div class="mobileShow">
<script>
  atOptions = {
    'key' : '33fb986b72fdc254fb0c1e79be22e3ec',
    'format' : 'iframe',
    'height' : 250,
    'width' : 300,
    'params' : {}
  };
</script>
<script src="https://www.highperformanceformat.com/33fb986b72fdc254fb0c1e79be22e3ec/invoke.js"></script>
</div>
<div class="mobileHide">
<script>
  atOptions = {
    'key' : '60966449084d21264769e3d9bdff986a',
    'format' : 'iframe',
    'height' : 90,
    'width' : 728,
    'params' : {}
  };
</script>
<script src="https://www.highperformanceformat.com/60966449084d21264769e3d9bdff986a/invoke.js"></script>
</div>

8 November 2024

incidents

Mark Wahlberg’s New Restaurant Catches Fire Just Before Grand Opening Ceremony

Fire Disrupts Wahlberg's Launch Mark Wahlberg’s new Mexican restaurant, Flecha Cantina, encou...

23 September 2024

incidents

Ex-FTX Exec Caroline Ellison Seeks Leniency Before Sentencing in Fraud Case

Ellison Seeks No Prison Former FTX executive Caroline Ellison, embroiled in one of the largest fina...

8 September 2024

business

UFC 306 Ticket Prices Plummet: Gilbert Burns & Co. Reveal Dana White's 83% Price Drop

UFC Noche Ticket Crisis The UFC is preparing to pay tribute to Mexico with a special event on Septe...

6 September 2024

business

OnlyFans Owner Earns $1 Billion in Dividends Over Three Years

OnlyFans Owner Cashes in Big Leonid Radvinsky, the mastermind behind OnlyFans Ltd., has seen remark...

16 August 2024

economy

US Dollar Strengthens as Positive Economic Data Eases Recession Concerns

Yen Dips as Strong U.S. Economy Boosts Dollar The U.S. dollar remained close to a two-week high aga...

15 August 2024

culture

Tyler, the Creator Apologizes to Eminem for Criticizing ‘Recovery’ Album

Netflix Show Changes Tyler Grammy-winning musician Tyler, The Creator, has reconsidered his earlier...

<!-- advertisement 11-->
<div class="mobileShow">
<script type="text/javascript">
	atOptions = {
		'key' : '33fb986b72fdc254fb0c1e79be22e3ec',
		'format' : 'iframe',
		'height' : 250,
		'width' : 300,
		'params' : {}
	};
</script>
<script type="text/javascript" src="//www.highperformanceformat.com/33fb986b72fdc254fb0c1e79be22e3ec/invoke.js"></script>
</div>
<div class="mobileHide">
<script type="text/javascript">
	atOptions = {
		'key' : '60966449084d21264769e3d9bdff986a',
		'format' : 'iframe',
		'height' : 90,
		'width' : 728,
		'params' : {}
	};
</script>
<script type="text/javascript" src="//www.highperformanceformat.com/60966449084d21264769e3d9bdff986a/invoke.js"></script>
</div>

7 September 2026

culture

Mariska Hargitay Honors Gloria Steinem in Emotional Emmys Speech for ‘My Mom Jayne’

Mariska Hargitay’s Emmy Tribute Mariska Hargitay used her latest Emmy moment to remember Glori...

5 September 2026

culture

Primetime Director Responds to Chris Hansen’s Criticism of Robert Pattinson Film

Chris Hansen Pushes Back Robert Pattinson’s upcoming A24 film Primetime is already drawing con...

4 September 2026

culture

Sandra Bullock Reveals Daughter Laila Encouraged Her to Date Again After Bryan Randall’s Death

Sandra Bullock’s Daughter Laila Has Thoughts About Her Mom’s Dating Future Sandra Bulloc...

3 September 2026

culture

Taylor Frankie Paul Confirms She Accepted ‘Bachelorette’ Proposal Before Reuniting With Dakota

Taylor Said Yes Taylor Frankie Paul has revealed that she accepted a proposal while filming her unai...

1 September 2026

culture

Sandra Bullock Recalls ‘Practical Magic’ Box Office Bomb: ‘It Got Quiet’

Cult Classic Gets Sequel Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman are back for Practical Magic 2, nearly thr...

31 August 2026

culture

Hugh Jackman Offers Fans Free Rent While $28.75M NYC Home Remains for Sale

Hugh Jackman Backs Free-Rent Giveaway as $28.75M Manhattan Apartment Seeks Buyer Hugh Jackman is tak...

<!-- advertisement 12-->
<div class="mobileShow">
<script type="text/javascript">
	atOptions = {
		'key' : '33fb986b72fdc254fb0c1e79be22e3ec',
		'format' : 'iframe',
		'height' : 250,
		'width' : 300,
		'params' : {}
	};
</script>
<script type="text/javascript" src="//www.highperformanceformat.com/33fb986b72fdc254fb0c1e79be22e3ec/invoke.js"></script>
</div>
<div class="mobileHide">
<script type="text/javascript">
	atOptions = {
		'key' : '60966449084d21264769e3d9bdff986a',
		'format' : 'iframe',
		'height' : 90,
		'width' : 728,
		'params' : {}
	};
</script>
<script type="text/javascript" src="//www.highperformanceformat.com/60966449084d21264769e3d9bdff986a/invoke.js"></script>
</div>

Us Weekly

Instagram

White House

National Football League (NFL)

Netflix

American Broadcasting Company (ABC)

The National Broadcasting Company (NBC)

X Corp.

CBS News

TMZ

HARGITAY Mariska

I just want that invitation to go out, especially to women

OPPENHEIM Lance

I’m excited for him to ‘have a seat’ and watch the movie in a movie theater, if that’s where he chooses to watch it.

PAUL Frankie Taylor

[I said,] ‘Yes.’ Yes, I did [get engaged]

BULLOCK Sandra

We thought, ‘This is going to be such an amazing film. People are going to love it.’ And then it got quiet. It got quiet

KAZANKOV Dmitry Alexandrovich

It works excellently in tandem with documentary genealogy: confirming or refuting hypotheses, finding unknown relatives, and breaking through brick walls. But expecting the test to build a pedigree back to the 16th century on its own is an illusion. Without archives, parish registers, and competent analysis of matches, the test remains just a set of percentages. We always advise users to first establish a documentary foundation and only then verify it with DNA data

Genetic Genealogy Without Illusions: What DNA Tests Actually Show

31 August

1 in 5 Couples Book With Whichever Wedding Venue Replies First, New Data Shows

2 September

HARDUNG Damian

German actor
TURNER-SMITH Jodie

Actress and model
SCOTT Thomas

American actor
WARREN Diane

American songwriter
JONES Leslie

American stand-up comedian and actress

Beard Day 7 September

The beard is a symbol of manliness. It can be close, full or wild. It stands for strength and wisdom. In some cultures, it shows high social status. T ...

Ex-Wikimedia Executive Appointed as Web Summit's CEO

Leadership Change at Web Summit

Persons3 and Companies5 in the news

Related news

Last news

NEW YORK NEWS

Beard Day 7 September

Persons³ and Companies⁵ in the news