After Niklas Zennstrom recently stepped down from his position as Skype’s chief executive to pursue other entrepreneurial ventures, eBay began to question whether their investment was really worth it. “He could have continued to run the company, but he wanted to focus on new opportunities. He’s an entrepreneur at heart,” stated eBay spokesperson, Hani Durzi.

eBay will be shelling out $1.43 billion for Skype-related payments this quarter. About $900 million will be for a write-down of Skype’s valuation and $530 million will be used to settle future obligations. The $900 million is based on impairment, meaning that eBay overvaluated Skype when they acquired the company in 2005 as part of a $2.6 billion agreement.

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