eBay Inc. (Nasdaq:EBAY) today announced that it has named Josh
Silverman the Chief Executive Officer of Skype. Silverman, currently
CEO of Shopping.com, an eBay company, brings more than nine years of
experience in running hyper-growth global consumer Internet companies.
Silverman will join Skype on March 24, 2008 and report directly to
John Donahoe, President and CEO-elect of eBay Inc. Michael van Swaaij,
who was appointed interim CEO in October 2007, will stay actively
involved with Skype.
"We´re honored and excited to welcome Josh to Skype as CEO. He has
an outstanding track record of entrepreneurial leadership and managing
diverse, fast-growing businesses," said Donahoe. "We look forward to
working with him as Skype continues to innovate and build out its next
stage of growth."
"I am very pleased to be joining Skype´s dynamic team at this
important time in the company´s history," said Silverman. "Skype is an
incredibly exciting company. Our opportunities are tremendous as we
continue to bring Skype to more people around the world, while finding
new ways to add value and helping users continue to set their
conversations free using Skype."
Skype is leading the way in providing new and easy ways to stay in
touch over the internet though voice and video calling. The company
has grown phenomenally since it was founded in 2003, and was acquired
by eBay Inc. in September 2005. Today, the company has more than 276
million registered users around the world. In Q4 2007, it posted total
revenues of $115 million, an increase of 76 percent over the prior
year, while delivering a fourth consecutive quarter of segment
profitability. Skype recently announced that since the company was
launched in 2003, users around the world have now talked to one
another for more than 100 billion minutes using free Skype-to-Skype
voice and video calls.
Silverman is currently serving as CEO of Shopping.com and oversees
the strategic direction of one of the world´s most popular shopping
comparison sites. Prior to joining Shopping.com, he held a variety of
leadership roles at eBay, including General Manager for
Marktplaats.nl. He was also responsible for helping to build eBay´s
extremely successful classifieds businesses in Europe. Before joining
eBay in 2003, Silverman was co-founder and CEO of Evite, the leading
social event planning web site.
Succeeding Silverman as Shopping.com CEO is another eBay veteran,
Andre Haddad. Haddad joined the company in 2001, when eBay acquired
iBazar, a leading European online marketplace he co-founded and
successfully ran in Paris.
Haddad brings to his new role a strong entrepreneurial and general
management background, a passion for the customer experience, and vast
eBay business and product knowledge, both in North America and
internationally. Most recently, Haddad served as Senior Vice President
of Product at eBay. His expertise will be essential to continuing
Shopping.com´s growth as a leading comparison shopping site. Haddad
will also be leading eBay´s consumer electronics business.
"Shopping.com is a pioneer in online comparison shopping and is
one of the fastest growing shopping destinations on the Internet,"
said Haddad. "I´m thrilled to be joining such an exciting company and
look forward to building on the strong foundation that Josh and the
Shopping.com team have established."
"It´s a testament to our deep talent pool that we can fill these
positions internally," said Donahoe. "We couldn´t be more pleased to
have Josh and Andre taking on such critical leadership roles. Their
deep expertise in building and leading fast growth companies combined
with their history at eBay makes them the ideal leaders for the Skype
and Shopping businesses."
About eBay
Founded in 1995, eBay Inc. connects hundreds of millions of people
around the world every day, empowering them to explore new
opportunities and innovate together. eBay Inc. does this by providing
the Internet platforms of choice for global commerce, payments and
communications. Since its inception, eBay Inc. has expanded to include
some of the strongest brands in the world, including eBay, PayPal,
Skype, Shopping.com and others. eBay Inc. is headquartered in San
Jose, California.
About Skype
Skype sets the standard in providing new and easy ways to stay in
touch over the internet. Millions of people every day make free
Skype-to-Skype voice and video calls and send instant messages using
our software. Some pay a little per minute for long-distance and
international calls to phones and mobiles and for SMS, voicemail and
call forwarding, or they buy subscriptions that give unlimited calls
nationwide.
We certify and sell hundreds of hardware products from more than
50 partners and work with third-party developers to create software to
extend Skype´s functionality. Skype has been downloaded more than half
a billion times and over 276 million people from almost every corner
of the globe have registered. Skype is an eBay company (NASDAQ:EBAY),
and you can learn more and get Skype at www.skype.com. Make your world
a smaller place: talk, share and do more with Skype.
Access to a broadband Internet connection is required for Skype
and all Skype Certified devices and accessories.
Skype is not a replacement for your traditional telephone service
and cannot be used for emergency calling.
Skype, SkypeIn, SkypeOut, Skype Me, Skype Certified, Skypecasts,
associated logos and the "S" symbol are trademarks of Skype Limited.
About Shopping.com
Shopping.com, an eBay company, pioneered online comparison
shopping and today is one of the fastest growing shopping destinations
on the Internet with items from thousands of trusted stores from
across the Web. With a singular focus on shopping, Shopping.com offers
shoppers easy-to-use search tools, engaging content, time-saving
navigation, along with millions of product and merchant reviews from
the Epinions community, all in one place. The Shopping.com Network
powers the shopping experience for hundreds of websites. For more
information, please visit www.shopping.com.
