Built the first peer-to-peer voice calling system that made international calls free and actually worked better as more people joined. Hit 100 million users in three years through pure virality — if I wanted to call you, you'd sign up.
eBay bought it for synergies that never materialized, then Microsoft paid $8.5B but couldn't decide what Skype should be. They cycled through redesigns copying Snapchat, neglected the core product for years, and shifted focus to Teams before the pandemic hit — leaving Skype unprepared when demand exploded.
Shut down May 2025. Zoom captured 50% of video calling during COVID while Skype shrank to 36M daily users. Revenue collapsed from $750M to $8M annually. Microsoft officially killed it after 21 years.
