Report: Skype firing executives to avoid payouts from Microsoft purchase

According to Bloomberg, Skype has begun firing several of its executives to reduce the number of payouts it will need to hand out following its acquisition by Microsoft. Vice presidents Christopher Dean, David Gurle, don Albert, and Russ Shaw, chief marketing officer Doug Bewsher, and head of human resources, Anne Gillespi, are all people who are said to be fired. Ramu Sunkara and Allyson Campa, who both became part of Skype following its purchase of Qik earlier this year, were also fired according to the report. 

Microsoft announced last month that it plans to acquire Skype, one of the world's most popular Voice over IP (VoIP) services, for $8.5 billion. Last week, we reported that the deal has been cleared by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in the U.S.