Key milestones in the history of telecommunications service Skype
By APTuesday, September 1, 2009
At a glance: Key dates in Skype’s history
Key milestones in Skype’s history:
— 2003: Skype Beta launches publicly. The company was founded by Niklas Zennstrom and Janus Friis, creators of the music downloading service Kazaa.
— 2005: EBay Inc. buys Skype for at least $2.6 billion. It eventually will pay an additional $530 million to some Skype shareholders because the business exceeds certain performance targets.
— 2007: EBay says it will take a $900 million write-down on the business, acknowledging it had overvalued it.
— April 14, 2009: EBay announces it will spin off Skype through an initial public offering in the first half of 2010.
— Tuesday: EBay announces it will sell a 65 percent stake in Skype for about $2 billion to a group of private investors.
