IBM has become the latest tech company to withdraw from the Web Summit in Lisbon, following comments made by former chief executive Paddy Cosgrave on the Israel-Hamas conflict.
The company confirmed its withdrawal to The Irish Times.
The quiet exit of the tech giant follows that of Intel, Siemens, Google, Stripe, Amazon Web Services and a number of investors from the event last week.
The company had been listed last week as a sponsor for the event, which is to take place between November 13th and 16th in Lisbon. However, its name was removed from the list as companies withdrew their support following social media posts made by the cofounder of the event. It is understood that the withdrawal came prior to Mr Cosgrave’s departure from the company, which was announced on Saturday.
In a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, Mr Cosgrave had said he was “shocked at the rhetoric and actions” of western leaders in support of Israel, “with the exception in particular of Ireland’s Government, who for once are doing the right thing”.
Mr Cosgrave subsequently apologised and resigned from the company and its board, saying his personal comments had “become a distraction”.
“To anyone who was hurt by my words, I apologise deeply,” he said. “What is needed at this time is compassion, and I did not convey that. Web Summit has a long history of partnership with Israel and its tech firms, and I am deeply regretful that those friends were hurt by any of what I said.”
He owns 81 per cent of Manders Terrace Ltd, the company behind the Web Summit.
Web Summit said it had a “small number” of refund requests from attendees but did not say how many, if any, were related to the controversy generated by Mr Cosgrave’s comments.
