Design World

  • Home
  • Technologies
    • ELECTRONICS • ELECTRICAL
    • Fastening • joining
    • FLUID POWER
    • LINEAR MOTION
    • MOTION CONTROL
    • SENSORS
    • TEST & MEASUREMENT
    • Factory automation
    • Warehouse automation
    • DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION
  • Learn
    • Tech Toolboxes
    • Learning center
    • eBooks • Tech Tips
    • Podcasts
    • Videos
    • Webinars • general engineering
    • Webinars • Automated warehousing
    • Voices
  • LEAP Awards
  • 2025 Leadership
    • 2024 Winners
    • 2023 Winners
    • 2022 Winners
    • 2021 Winners
  • Design Guides
  • Resources
    • Subscribe
    • 3D Cad Models
      • PARTsolutions
      • TraceParts
    • Digital Issues
      • Design World
      • EE World
    • Engineering diversity
    • Trends
  • Supplier Listings
  • Advertise
  • Subscribe

eBay Sells Skype for $1.9B, Retains 35% Stake

By atesmeh | September 1, 2009

EBay sold Skype to a group of private investors just three years after paying $2.6 billion for the VoIP service. EBay will get $1.9 billion in cash and retain a 35 percent stake in the company.   

The deal was led by Silver Lake and a group of investors including eBay board member Andreessen Horowitz and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board.  It also values Skype at $2.75 billion. Earlier this year, analysts pegged the company’s book value at $1.7 billion.

EBay outbid Google and Yahoo for the Internet calling service in 2005. Hefty payouts to Skype founders Niklas Zennstrom and Janus Friis brought the transaction to $3.1 billion. The deal turned foul when eBay took a $900 million charge on it two years  later, bringing Skype’s total price tag to about $4 billion.

To make matters worse, a lawsuit filed in a British court earlier this year by Zennstrom and Friis against eBay revealed that the company never secured the exclusive rights to the peer-to-peer technology at the core of Skype. Though the lawsuit will not be heard until next year, it appears that Zennstrom and Friis may be in a position to revoke eBay’s access to Skype’s essential technology.

Zennstrom and Friis formed a venture capital fund called Atomic with the hopes of buying back Skype. The plan fell through when they failed to raise enough money for an outright purchase of the VoIP service.

It was not disclosed how the ongoing legal battle affects the purchase.

Skype posted sales of $170 million last quarter and added 37.3 million registered users, bringing its total customer base to 480.5 million.

Skype has been an active presence in the wireless industry. The company has aggressively pushed for VoIP over wireless networks and petitioned the FCC in 2007 to force carriers to unlock their data networks to third-party applications and hardware.

Skype also challenged the FCC over the definition of open wireless networks and has suggested carriers’ business practices are inconsistent with the consumer empowerment principles of the Internet Policy Statement.


Filed Under: Industry regulations + certifications

 

LEARNING CENTER

Design World Learning Center
“dw
EXPAND YOUR KNOWLEDGE AND STAY CONNECTED
Get the latest info on technologies, tools and strategies for Design Engineering Professionals.
Motor University

Design World Digital Edition

cover

Browse the most current issue of Design World and back issues in an easy to use high quality format. Clip, share and download with the leading design engineering magazine today.

EDABoard the Forum for Electronics

Top global problem solving EE forum covering Microcontrollers, DSP, Networking, Analog and Digital Design, RF, Power Electronics, PCB Routing and much more

EDABoard: Forum for electronics

Sponsored Content

  • Sustainability, Innovation and Safety, Central to Our Approach
  • Why off-highway is the sweet spot for AC electrification technology
  • Looking to 2025: Past Success Guides Future Achievements
  • North American Companies Seek Stronger Ties with Italian OEMs
  • Adapt and Evolve
  • Sustainable Practices for a Sustainable World
View More >>
Engineering Exchange

The Engineering Exchange is a global educational networking community for engineers.

Connect, share, and learn today »

Design World
  • About us
  • Contact
  • Manage your Design World Subscription
  • Subscribe
  • Design World Digital Network
  • Control Engineering
  • Consulting-Specifying Engineer
  • Plant Engineering
  • Engineering White Papers
  • Leap Awards

Copyright © 2025 WTWH Media LLC. All Rights Reserved. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of WTWH Media
Privacy Policy | Advertising | About Us

Search Design World

  • Home
  • Technologies
    • ELECTRONICS • ELECTRICAL
    • Fastening • joining
    • FLUID POWER
    • LINEAR MOTION
    • MOTION CONTROL
    • SENSORS
    • TEST & MEASUREMENT
    • Factory automation
    • Warehouse automation
    • DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION
  • Learn
    • Tech Toolboxes
    • Learning center
    • eBooks • Tech Tips
    • Podcasts
    • Videos
    • Webinars • general engineering
    • Webinars • Automated warehousing
    • Voices
  • LEAP Awards
  • 2025 Leadership
    • 2024 Winners
    • 2023 Winners
    • 2022 Winners
    • 2021 Winners
  • Design Guides
  • Resources
    • Subscribe
    • 3D Cad Models
      • PARTsolutions
      • TraceParts
    • Digital Issues
      • Design World
      • EE World
    • Engineering diversity
    • Trends
  • Supplier Listings
  • Advertise
  • Subscribe
We use cookies to personalize content and ads, to provide social media features, and to analyze our traffic. We share information about your use of our site with our social media, advertising, and analytics partners who may combine it with other information you’ve provided to them or that they’ve collected from your use of their services. You consent to our cookies if you continue to use this website.OkNoRead more