Trouble In Skypeland: It Misses eBay Revenue Targets

When eBay bought Skype for the staggering sum of over $4 billion, Skype had to meet certain revenue targets. But trouble is ahead: It looks as if Skype is falling behind, and won't be able to get the full payout. That's according to a Techdirt blog post.

Skype has already been paid $2.6 billion by eBay, and that money isn't at risk. It's the remaining $1.5 billion that's in question, which is based on Skype meeting performance metrics. Techdirt reports that those performance metrics aren't being met, and may only be about half of what eBay wants.

Not that I'm crying for the Skype folks. Even after a smaller payout, they'll still get something well north of $3 billion, even if they fall far behind in their goals. That buys a lot of cheap overseas phone calls.

The moral in all this? Not much except that eBay drastically overpaid for Skype. Consider it the final gasp of the Internet bubble...a kind of after-burp.