Skype CEO resigns, corporate shakeup ensues
Skype co-founder and CEO, Niklas Zennstrom, has announced that he is stepping down from office. Zennstrom will become a non-executive chairman of the Skype Board of Directors.
Immediately after the announcement, Skype’s mother company, Ebay which bought Skype in 2005, announced some changes of its own. Ebay’s Chief Strategy Officer, Michael van Swaaij, will temporarily replace Zennstrom at the helm of Skype until a replacement is found. eBay with the help of Russell Reynolds Associates is currently conducting a search for Zennstrom’s successor.
Meanwhile, Henry Gomez, Skype’s president, who is also serving as eBay’s Senior Vice President, will be returning to eBay as Senior Vice President for Corporate Affairs, reporting directly to Meg Whitman, eBay’s CEO and President.
eBay also announced that it has settled future obligations with certain Skype shareholders, including Zennstrom, resulting from an earn-out agreement put in place when it acquired Skype. The shareholders will receive $530 million. The amount covers the projected revenue and gross profits for 2008 and the first half of 2009. With the current and anticipated progress of Skype, eBay believes that this amount is reasonable considering Skype’s disappointing growth.
Skype has grown as one of the most widely used Internet’s phone-to-pc communication service since it was created by Zennstrom and co-founder Janus Friis. The service enables Skype users to communicate with each other for free, while charging a minimal fee for PC-to-mobile or PC-to-landline calls. Skype’s popularity has grown further since it was acquired by eBay. Part of the buyout deal was the appointment of Zennstrom as its CEO.
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