eBay sells Skype stake

eBay have sold 65% of Skype for USD$1.9bn, ending one of the oddest marriages in the tech industry. The theory when the auction site bought the VoIP provider was always that people would use Internet Telephony to communicate about their sales on the site, which was always an odd concept and naturally never caught on.

The buyers are an investment consortium including the founder of Netscape, and eBay will retain the other 35% of the business - which will now no longer be floated as a separate company as they announced in April. It was also rumoured that Skype's founders were going to buy them out from eBay in the same month.

Skype chief executive Josh Silverman said:

"We are extremely fortunate to have such a talented and seasoned group invest in our company.

This is a group of investors and industry veterans that have a strong track record of taking the technology companies they own to the next level. With their know-how helping to guide our vision, Skype is poised to enter the next phase of its growth and development."

eBay's shares were up 3% on the news of the deal, which they're naturally happy with given that Skype may need to completely re-develop their technology if they lose a lawsuit over the software's source code in a patent claim.