Niklas Zennström is CEO and Founding Partner of Atomico, and oversees its strategy and overall management, in addition to sourcing new investments and working with portfolio companies.
Prior to forming Atomico, he co-founded Skype, Kazaa, Joltid and Joost among other high-profile technology companies. Niklas held the position of CEO from Skype’s inception until September 2007 when he became the company’s chairman, a post that he held until March 2008. During that time, Skype became the global leader in Internet voice communications, with more than 309 million registered users within five years of launch and revenues of $130 million in Q1 2008. In 2005, Skype was sold to eBay for $3.1 billion. Subsequent to this, Skype was bought back by a consortium that included Niklas, and was sold to Microsoft for $8.5 billion cash in 2011.
Before starting Skype, Niklas co-founded and served as CEO of Kazaa, which became the world’s most downloaded Internet software in 2003. Prior to that, Niklas was CEO of the European portal everyday.com and was a general manager at get2net. Niklas started his professional career at Tele2, a pioneering competitive phone company in Europe.
He currently serves on the boards of Fon, Jolicloud, Rovio and Rdio. He was recognized by Time Magazine as one of its 100 Most Influential People in 2006, and has received numerous other awards for innovation and entrepreneurship. Niklas co-founded Zennström Philanthropies, where he is actively involved in combating climate change, improving the state of the Baltic Sea and encouraging social entrepreneurship.
He holds dual degrees in Business and MSc Engineering Physics/Computer Science from Uppsala University in Sweden, and he spent his final year at the University of Michigan.
