The Plot Thickens: Skype Founders And Joost Sue Former Chairman And CEO Mike Volpi
The Skype-eBay plot thickens. Joost and Joltid, both companies owned by Skype's founders, have filed a lawsuit against former Joost chairman and CEO, Mike Volpi. The suit also names Index Ventures, the VC firm where Volpi is a partner.
Context & Ripple Effects
This suit is the latest escalation in the founders' campaign to reclaim Skype from eBay. In July they asserted that eBay no longer has a right to Skype's core technology via their Joltid licensing claim, and by September 17 Joltid had opened litigation against eBay, Skype, and Skype's pending investors — a move eWeek framed as a ploy to force a buyback after an earlier attempt to repurchase Skype failed.
What makes today's filing different is its target: Mike Volpi, who joined Index Ventures after stepping down as Joost CEO in July, and Index itself — which had put money into Joost as part of a $45 million round. NewTeeVee reports the claim centers on taking Joost tech toward a web-based version of Skype, turning a former executive into a defendant.
First-order effects
- Volpi and Index Ventures now face direct legal exposure alongside eBay and Skype, expanding the founders' fight from corporate counterparty to individuals and their VC firm.
Second-order effects
- Index's dual role — investor in Joost and participant in the group bidding on Skype — puts other prospective Skype backers on notice that joining the deal means joining the litigation battlefield.
Third-order effects
- If founder-controlled IP keeps proving decisive in these disputes, executive mobility at venture-backed startups hardens into a liability question: the talent-to-IP litigation pattern where a departed CEO's knowledge becomes a lawsuit's premise rather than an asset.
The trend: Founder-held core IP is becoming leverage in M&A disputes, with litigation aimed not just at acquirers but at executives and investors who touch the contested technology.