Skype confirms management exodus

SEVERAL Skype executives have left the firm precipitously just as its acquisition by Microsoft won US regulatory approval.

The firm has been short of details and very quiet about the departures and there are no puffy goodbye declarations on its web site, despite widespread reports about the management exodus.

The firm has confirmed to The INQUIRER that eight people are leaving, but at first it provided us with only a list of their names, including David Gurle, Christopher Dean, Russ Shaw, Don Albert, Doug Bewsher, Anne Gillespie, Ramu Sunkara, and Allyson Campa.

A little more prodding revealed a little more information, but still there was none of the glowing cloud of blather you usually see when some company's executives clear out their desks.

These are no personal assistants or accountants either. Gurl, Dean, Shaw and Albert were all VPs, Bewsher was the firm's chief marketing officer and Gillespie was in charge of human resources, even if she might not have been part of all the recent executive firing conversations.

"Skype, like any other pragmatic organization, constantly assesses its team structure to deliver its users the best products," explained Skype. "As part of a recent internal shift Skype has made some management changes."

The INQUIRER cannot say whether these now ex-Skypers were pushed or jumped, nor can we fathom why anyone would choose to leave a company just before any stock or options they might own will be set to benefit from a massive injection of big money from Microsoft. µ