Paddy Cosgrave has announced his resignation as CEO of Web Summit.
In a statement issued this afternoon, Mr Cosgrave said: "I am resigning as CEO of Web Summit with immediate effect.
"Unfortunately my personal comments have become a distraction from the event, and our team, our sponsors, our startups and the people who attend.
"I sincerely apologise again for any hurt I have caused."
It follows similar decisions this week by Intel and Siemens not to take part in the biggest technology conference in Europe.
During the week, Y Combinator's Garry Tan, Sequoia Capital's Ravi Gupta and other prominent venture capitalists also cancelled plans to attend the event.
Several tech executives based in Israel dropped out as well, while it was reported that actress Gillian Anderson would not attend the conference in Lisbon.
Mr Cosgrave issued an apology for his comments earlier this week.
"I understand that what I said, the timing of what I said, and the way it has been presented has caused profound hurt to many," he said on the Web Summit site. "To anyone who was hurt by my words, I apologise deeply".
He initially posted about the conflict last week and reiterated the sentiment in subsequent posts.
This afternoon, a spokesperson for Web Summit said it would appoint a new CEO as soon as possible.
The spokesperson added that Web Summit 2023 in Lisbon will go ahead as planned.
The Web Summit was originally set up and held in Dublin before being moved to Lisbon in 2015.
