Remember when ebay bought Skype, and how that buy was panned?

In September of 2005, eBay bought Skype for $2.6 billion--and what did Mark Mahaney of Citigroup say about the buy?

"The return on investment here will be uncertain for a long time to come....The near-term potential for improved communications among eBay buyers and sellers...is a positive, but not one worth $2.6 billion."


So in late 2009, to appease Wall Street, eBay sold 65% of Skype to private equity buyers for $1.9 billion. 

Today Microsoft is going to buy Skype for $8.5 billion, and you can bet that Wall Street will say that it's a risky move and not worth the price again.

Whereas everyone else in the real world understands that it's good to be able to actually see the other person on the keyboard!