Web Summit Executive President Paddy Cosgrave said today that the organization has not yet quantified the financial impact of the cancellation of the event on Wednesday, due to the bad weather, referring this evaluation to the coming days.
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12/11/2026
by
Lusa
O executive president (CEO) of the Web Summit, Paddy Cosgrave, said today that the organization has not yet quantified the financial impact of the cancellation of the event on Wednesday, due to the bad weather, referring this evaluation to the coming days.
“ It's still Thursday. The accountants will find that out.”Paddy Cosgrave said at a press conference in Lisbon on the last day of the technological summit.
The responsible acknowledged that the cancellation of the event on Wednesday had an impact on the organization, but stressed that it was a weather phenomenon outside its control.
The second day of the Web Summit, Wednesday, did not take place due to my time, in a decision that the organization considered “respecting government guidelines”.
In this way, Paddy Cosgrave considered the decision of the authorities to cancel Wednesday's activities right.
“ At times there has to be an abundance of caution, the [Portuguese] government had a good decision and we think it was the right one”, appointed the CEO.
About possible compensation to the companies, ‘startups’ and affected participants, said that the cases will be analyzed individually by the event team.
Regarding the impact that the situation may have on the future of Web Summit in the Portuguese capital, the responsible said that the organization considers itself “very lucky” to be able to occupy the current space.
Paddy Cosgrave also highlighted that hotels and restaurants in the city registered significant activity during Wednesday, although the Web Summit enclosure was closed, considering that Lisbon eventually benefited from holding parallel meetings and events.
The CEO also revealed that the organization managed to rebuild the temporary structures of the enclosure after having dismantled a significant part for security reasons, in a process involving hundreds of workers and the collaboration of PSP, Civil Protection and other entities, whom he thanked.
About today, Paddy Cosgrave said it’s “the busiest Thursday Web Summit ever had.”.
The Web Summit, which takes place at the Parque das Nações (Meo Arena and FIL), in Lisbon, started on Monday and is considered one of the largest technological summits in the world.
The first edition in the Portuguese capital took place in 2016 and the event is guaranteed until 2028.