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> Their acquisition of Skype made no sense. For what it's worth: eBay paid $2.6B for Skype in 2005, sold 65% of it for $2B in 2009, and then made an additional
by gamache 15y ago
> Their acquisition of Skype made no sense.
For what it's worth: eBay paid $2.6B for Skype in 2005, sold 65% of it for $2B in 2009, and then made an additional $2.5B selling its remaining stake to Microsoft in 2010. So it turned out to net almost $2B over five years. I'm not an accountant, but I could live with those numbers.
(disclosure: eBay owns the company that bought the company where I work)
- arach 15y agoSkype retained its value and even became more valuable, but that doesn't mean it made strategic sense for a marketplace / e-commerce company.
- headbiznatch 15y agoIt made strategic sense if they were hoping to make a couple billion dollars on their investment.
- saraid216 15y agoThat's not strategy. That's a get-rich-quick scheme.
- headbiznatch 15y agoGetting rich quick is a valid strategical choice. It may not be your thing, but this kind of categorization is personal.