Skype’s founders are looking to buy back their creation from eBay, according to a recent report by The New York Times . Niklas Zennstrom and Janus Friis are trying to raise enough money to repurchase the service they sold four years ago, the paper suggests.
Possible Skype Sale
The duo sold Skype for an end-total of $3.1 billion, including bonus payouts, back in 2005. Now, they seem to be rethinking that decision. The Times quotes someone with “knowledge of their discussions” as saying the two are actively working to generate a billion dollars in financing.
While eBay hasn’t directly commented on the reports, the company’s CEO has apparently indicated in the past that he’d be willing to consider a sale, noting Skype’s “few synergies with [eBay’s] core e-commerce and payments businesses.”
A Skype sale would likely happen at a price around $1.7 billion, analysts tell The Times .
Wonder if all the recent attention (and business potential) surrounding the Skype iPhone app release has anything to do with this?
