Niklas Zennstrom

eBay Completes Sale of Skype Unit to Investor Group

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on November 20, 2009 - 9:34am.

San Jose, Calif. - Nearly three months after first announcing the deal, online auction giant eBay (NASD: EBAY) said that it has completed the sale of a majority stake in its Skype Internet telephone business to an investment group headed by Silver Lake Partners. Under the deal, the investor group -- which also included Joltid Limited, the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and Andreessen Horowitz -- paid $1.9 billion and a $125 million note in exchange for a 70% stake in the unit.

Skype Litigation Settled; Sale by eBay to Investors to Proceed

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on November 6, 2009 - 8:35am.

San Jose, Calif. - Skype parent company eBay (NASD: EBAY) announced on Friday that litigation between an investor group looking to acquire Skype and the creators of the Internet telephone service has been settled, and that its sale of a majority stake in Skype will now proceed. As a result of the settlement, the acquisition deal has been restructured, and Skype creators Niklas Zennstrom and Janus Friis will now join the investor group, led by Silver Lake, and make a "significant capital investment" in exchange for a 14% stake in Skype.

Report: Skype Creators, eBay, Investors Near Settlement

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on November 4, 2009 - 9:29am.

San Francisco - Litigation between the inventors and former owners of Internet phone service Skype, current owner eBay (NASD: EBAY), and an investor group looking to acquire Skype from eBay, could be nearing a settlement, The New York Times reported, citing several people who have been briefed on the situation. Niklas Zennstrom and Janus Friis -- the inventors of Skype and the peer-to-peer technology behind file-sharing service Kazaa and video portal Joost -- sued the investor group in a bid to block their acquisition of Skype from eBay.

Skype Creators Seek Injunction Against Former Joost CEO Volpi

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on October 15, 2009 - 9:00am.

Wilmington, Del. - The creators of peer-to-peer services Kazaa, Skype and Joost have asked a federal court for an injunction against former Joost CEO Mike Volpi and Index Ventures, where he is now a partner, to prevent them from using trade secrets in their bid to acquire Skype from eBay. Developers Niklas Zennstrom and Janus Friis allege that Volpi breached his duties to Joost while employed there by dangling a prospective workaround -- that would eliminate the need for Skype to use Zennstrom's and Friis' peer-to-peer technology -- to investors looking to acquire Skype from eBay (NASD: EBAY).

Creators of Kazaa, Skype Plan Subscription Music Service

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on October 14, 2009 - 9:28am.

Los Angeles - The creators of peer-to-peer technology firms including file-sharing service Kazaa, Internet phone service Skype and video service Joost have announced plans to develop a new subscription-based music service called Rdio, The New York Times reports. Details on the new venture were sparse, but Zennstrom and Friis have established offices for Rdio in Los Angeles and San Francisco, and hope to offer Rdio online and to mobile devices by early next year.

Skype Creators Sue Former Joost CEO Volpi

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on September 18, 2009 - 10:14am.

Wilmington, Del. - The creators of Skype, Kazaa and Joost and their related companies have filed suit against former Joost CEO and chairman Mike Volpi and Index Ventures Management, alleging breach of contract and misappropriation of trade secrets, among other claims. The plaintiffs include Joltid, the company owned by Skype, Kazaa and Joost creators Janus Friis and Niklas Zennstrom; Joost US Inc.; and Joost N.V.

Skype Founders Sue eBay for Copyright Infringement

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on September 17, 2009 - 9:41am.

San Francisco - Joltid, the company operated by Skype and Kazaa creators Janus Friis and Niklas Zennstrom, has filed a copyright infringement suit against Skype parent company eBay (NASD: EBAY), which could have an adverse affect on eBay's $2 billion sale of the Internet telephone company to a group of investors, The Wall Street Journal reported. The pair left Skype two years after eBay acquired the company from them for $2.6 billion in 2005, but retained the rights to the service's underlying peer-to-peer technology.