Skype is owned by Microsoft, which acquired the company in 2011 and has controlled it ever since, including through its announced shutdown of the service in 2025.

Who owns Skype?

  • Skype has been a wholly owned part of Microsoft since 2011, when Microsoft bought it for about 8.5 billion dollars in cash.
  • After the acquisition, Skype was integrated into Microsoft’s product ecosystem, including Office, Xbox, and Windows platforms.
  • In 2025, Microsoft announced it would retire Skype and move users toward Microsoft Teams as its main communication platform, but ownership remains with Microsoft throughout this transition.

A quick timeline

  1. 2003: Skype is launched by its original founders as an internet calling and messaging app.
  1. 2005: eBay buys Skype for about 2.6 billion dollars.
  1. 2009: An investor group led by Silver Lake buys a majority stake from eBay.
  1. 2011: Microsoft acquires Skype for 8.5 billion dollars and makes it a Microsoft division.
  1. 2025: Microsoft announces Skype will be shut down and users will be moved to Microsoft Teams, but Microsoft remains the owner through the end of the product’s life.

So if you’re wondering “who owns Skype” right now, the answer is simply: Microsoft.

TL;DR: Skype’s current and long‑term owner is Microsoft, which bought it in 2011 and is now phasing it out in favor of Microsoft Teams.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.