Skype

I believe no one needs a presentation about Skype, we all have heard about it and, in fact, many of us use it regularly. In the times of internet, globalization and unlimited traveling possibilities we all have friends, relatives or business partners abroad or in other parts of our countries.

But, what many of us don't know is that Skype, has an Estonian origin. 

Skype  was found by a Dane Janus Friis and a Swede Niklas Zennström in 2003. 

The Skype software was created and developed  by  Estonians : Ahti Heinla, Priit Kasesalu and Jaan Tallinn.  The name for their software went from the concept of 'Sky peer-to-peer' to ' Skyper', but since the domain was taken, the founders opted for a shortened and (thankfully) available version of 'Skype'.

Since then, Skype has changed owners several times, notably it was acquired by Ebay in 2005, just two years after its launch. Talk about success, though! In 2011 Skype was fully acquired by Microsoft for 8.5 billion dollars and got ri of its Live Messenger service in favor of Skype software (except for China of course, where Messenger is still operating, and Skype is not).

Although Skype' s headquarters were in Luxembourg from 2003, after the acquisition Microsoft left the Headquarters to stay in Luxembourg and the Development division stayed in Tartu, Estonia and still makes up to 44% of all Skype  Development division employees.  

The Skype story is a good example of how small and not well-known countries can be behind something as huge, as Skype.