Skype fires executives, avoiding payouts after Microsoft buyout
Skype Technologies, the Internet-calling service Microsoft is buying, is firing senior executives before the deal closes, a move that reduces the value of their payout, according to three people familiar with the matter.
Skype Technologies, the Internet-calling service Microsoft is buying, is firing senior executives before the deal closes, a move that reduces the value of their payout, according to three people familiar with the matter.
Vice Presidents David Gurle, Christopher Dean, Russ Shaw and Don Albert were dismissed from the Luxembourg-based company, said the people, who requested anonymity because the departures aren’t public.
Chief Marketing Officer Doug Bewsher and Anne Gillespie, head of human resources, were also fired. Executives Ramu Sunkara and Allyson Campa, from the 2011 Qik purchase, were also let go.
The timing of the dismissals means stock options will be worth less than if the executives stayed until the $8.5 billion deal closes, the people said. When a company is bought, compensation is often tied to the purchase price, said Neil Sims, a managing director at Boyden, a search firm.
