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Skype Guys Trying to Buy It Back From eBay

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(Newser) – The European wunderkinds who gave the world Skype have been approaching private equity firms in an attempt to buy their creation back from eBay, the New York Times reports. Niklas Zennstrom of Sweden and Janus Friis of Denmark sold the Internet phone service for $2.6 billion in 2005, but analysts think they could buy it back for about $1.7 billion.

Since its sale, Skype’s user base has exploded from 53 million to 405 million, and it’s grown to account for 8% of all international calling minutes. But it's not the greatest fit for eBay’s bread-and-butter e-commerce offerings. The sale would also clear up an intellectual property dispute between the duo and eBay which has their company, Joltid, withholding its peer-to-peer tech—technology key to making Skype work.

Janus Friis, co-founder of Skype and Joost, breaks for lunch during the annual Allen and Co.'s media conference Wednesday, July 11, 2007, in Sun Valley, Idaho.
Janus Friis, co-founder of Skype and Joost, breaks for lunch during the annual Allen and Co.'s media conference Wednesday, July 11, 2007, in Sun Valley, Idaho.   (AP Photo/Douglas C. Pizac)
Then-eBay CEO Meg Whitman, left, stands with Niklas Zennstrom, co-founder of Skype, in central London, in this Monday Sept, 12, 2005 file photo.
Then-eBay CEO Meg Whitman, left, stands with Niklas Zennstrom, co-founder of Skype, in central London, in this Monday Sept, 12, 2005 file photo.   (AP Photos / Sergio Dionisio, eBay)
Niklas Zennstrom, a co-founder of Skype and Joost, heads to lunch at the annual Allen and Co.'s media conference Thursday, July 12, 2007, in Sun Valley, Idaho.
Niklas Zennstrom, a co-founder of Skype and Joost, heads to lunch at the annual Allen and Co.'s media conference Thursday, July 12, 2007, in Sun Valley, Idaho.   (AP Photo/Douglas C. Pizac)
Skype for the iPhone has been released.
Skype for the iPhone has been released.   (Flickr)
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2 comments
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Jojo
Apr 11, 09 10:55 AM CDT
This may be the best "web bazillionaire" story ever. I mean 2 kids make Skype, sell it for 2.6B and buy it back for 1.7B which means they will STILL have a billion dollars and own what they started with. Genius. Reply
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Newser001
Apr 11, 09 11:03 AM CDT
I Skype. I hope they succeed... I don't like dealing with Ebay, PayPal, etc... BTW, when will we see PC free Skype phones again? Philips had a great one, but dropped their manufacturing agreement with the 3rd party producer over QC issues. Reply
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