eBay Names New Skype Chief

Silverman, who is currently the head of eBay property Shopping.com, will take the post effective March 24.

Skype's cofounder and head, Niklas Zennstrom, left in October, and since then Michael van Swaaij has served as interim CEO of Skype. Swaaij, who was formerly eBay's vice president for European operations, will remain actively involved in Skype.

Skype Troubles

Skype has troubled eBay in recent months -- at the time Zennstrom departed, eBay said it would take a US$900 million write-down in the value of the online telephone service. The company bought Skype in October 2005 for $2.6 billion.

eBay also paid some Skype shareholders $530 million to settle future obligations through a one-time payment known as an "earn-out."

Changing Hats

The company named Andre Haddad to replace Silverman as Shopping.com CEO. Haddad most recently worked as senior vice president of products for eBay.

The new Skype and Shopping.com heads are not the only management changes afoot at eBay. The company's longtime chief executive, Meg Whitman, is stepping down from her post at the end of March. John Donahoe, head of the company's core auction and e-commerce business , will take her place.

eBay shares declined 3 cents to $27.68 in morning trading.