He and a handful of other shareholders will miss out on an extra US$1.2 billion (S$1.8 billion).
They will, however, still get US$530 million that eBay is paying to end a payout agreement, which could have netted them up to US$1.7 billion if Skype hits specific financial targets next year and in 2009. There is obviously no chance of that happening now.
Mr Zennstrom is not completely out of Skype and will draw a salary as non-executive chairman.
Skype has been the most successful of a string of high-profile start-ups by Mr Zennstrom and partner Janus Friis. Their other ventures include music service Kazaa and online video venture Joost.