Paddy Cosgrave is back at the helm of Web Summit, six months after he resigned following backlash over his comments on the Israel-Hamas war.

The controversial businessman has returned to the CEO role he stood down from last year after the comments on X, formerly Twitter.

He announced his return on X as well.

Mr Cosgrave said stepping down was the first time in 15 years that he’d taken time off, adding that it allowed him to reconnect with old Web Summit friends and listen to what they wanted.

Mr Cosgrave’s decision to step down came after his comments led to headliners dropping out of Web Summit’s Lisbon event, before tech giants including Meta and Amazon followed suit.

His successor Katherine Maher stepped down three months after taking the role, as she started a new role with US non-profit NPR.

Mr Cosgrave owns a majority stake in Web Summit, which organises one of the world’s largest tech conferences every year. The event boasts around 70,000 attendees, with high-profile speakers from tech and politics.