Skype was originally written by three Estonian specialists: Ahti Heinla, Priit Kasesalu and Jaan Tallinn. In 2003, Niklas Zennstrom of Sweden and Janus Friis of Denmark established the "Skype Group" based in Luxembourg, and on August 29, 2003, they released the first beta release.
After the inauguration, Skype enjoyed immense popularity and spread rapidly across the globe. On September 12, 2007, Skype was acquired by eBay for $ 2.5 billion, eBay shares and performance-based considerations. On September 1, 2009, eBay announced the sale of 65% of Skype to Silver Lake, Andreessen Horowitz and the Canada Pension Plan Administration for $ 1.9 billion, Skype being valued at 2.75 billion USD.