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Skype Founder Zennstrom Out As CEO

By Ed Oswald, BetaNews

October 1, 2007, 12:09 PM

With eBay still not seeing much benefit from its 2005 acquisition of VoIP provider Skype, the company said Monday that it would shake up management and take some charges related to its operations.

Founder Niklas Zennstrom is stepping down as CEO, and will be replaced by eBay Chief Strategy Officer Michael van Swaaij on an interim basis. Henry Gomez, Skype's president, will also step down. He will take a position with eBay -- where he worked before Skype -- as senior vice president of corporate affairs.

A total of $1.4 billion in charges will be taken by eBay in the third quarter, $530 million of which will be related to the final payments to complete the acquisition, and the rest taken as an impairment charge.

"eBay believes that the [$530 million USD] payment is reasonable given the progress and anticipated rapid growth of Skype's active user base," the company said in a statement.

Zennstrom will stay active with Skype, however as non-executive chairman. It was not immediately clear if the company had any plans to name a replacement to Gomez' position.

The $2.6 billion acquisition of Skype was criticized by many as a risky move by eBay. However, the company said it was looking for ways to branch out from the auction business.

So far, the effort has been slow going. The VoIP provider's $90 million in revenue during the second quarter was 5 percent of eBay's overall total. Part of the reason for the slow pickup may be that the service, while quite popular in tech circles, is still not very well known to the general public.

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By GS5

posted Oct 1, 2007 - 8:12 PM

Of course they're not seeing much benefit. Skype's service is $h!t. Terrible sound quality, dropped calls, long delays, echos, bloated program. I must say in the beginning Skype was excellent and I loved it. But for 2 years now I've been using Gizmo Project and it's great. I hope they don't go the Skype way and phuck it up.

Score: 0

By MeNN

edited Oct 2, 2007 - 7:58 AM

> Terrible sound quality,

Very very rare I have less than great sound. Used Skype for years.

> dropped calls,

Happens when I call people that doesn't have a reliable internet connection, not really the fault of Skype.

> long delays, echos, bloated program

Are you sure it isn't a problem with your connection, hardware etc. I have used Skype a lot with many people.

Score: 0

By GS5

posted Oct 2, 2007 - 12:19 PM

Definitely not hardware and with a T1 Connection I doubt it.

Score: 0

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