Skype will support Microsoft devices like Xbox and Kinect, Windows Phone 7, and various other Windows devices. 'Some of those Skype executives were involved in core business strategy issues that are at this point essentially irrelevant, since the company is going to be taking its go-to-market and marketing orders from Microsoft's organization now,' he added.

If you want to turn it into an exercise in tea-leaf reading, then those spaces are likely to be filled by existing Microsoft executives or insiders who understand how the company works,' said Charles King, principal analyst at Pund-IT. 'This type of executive shuffling is fairly typical. Bloomberg reported that the executives' stock options would be worth more if they stayed until after the Microsoft deal closed, so Skype and Microsoft stood to gain by letting them go before the acquisition's finale. The Federal Trade Commission approved Microsoft's buyout on Thursday. Skype employees Ramu Sunkara and Allyson Campa, founder and senior vice president of the Skype-acquired Qik, also departed.

However, the exiting executives include David Gurle, vice president and general manager of Skype for Business Don Albert, vice president and general manager for the Americas and advertising Christopher Dean, head of consumer-market business development Anne Gillespie, head of human resources Doug Bewsher, CMO and Russ Shaw, vice president and general manager. Skype didn't reveal whether the executives were terminated or resigned. 'As part of a recent internal shift, Skype has made some management changes.' 'Skype, like any other pragmatic organization, constantly assesses its team structure to deliver its users the best products,' the company said in a written statement. A Skype spokesperson confirmed Monday that eight executives are leaving the company after Microsoft's $8.5 billion buyout in May. Skype is shedding executives in the wake of the Microsoft merger.

Current skype ceo