EBay purchased Internet phone service Skype in 2005 for over $2.5 billion in cash and stock. Two years later, as the promised synergy between online auction services and web-based telephone calls didn’t materialize as planned, EBay took a $1.4 billion charge on the unit. Now Skype is for sale, with EBay’s still-new CEO calling it a poor fit with the rest of the company.

“Behind PayPal, Skype may be the most valuable franchise on the Internet today,” says John Donahoe. “But if there is not synergy there, it does not belong in EBay.” He says that the move “will give Skype the focus and resources required to continue its growth and effectively compete.”

Given the industry’s legitimate questions about Skype’s business model, this may or may not be true (despite its strong recent results). But Donahoe appears to be making the move (and taking the financial hit) for the right reasons. He says, “the acquisition of Skype was an intelligent risk to take at the time. I supported it then. It turned out just to be a great stand alone business.”

Now Donahoe is convinced that EBay should return its focus back to its roots in e-commerce and online payments. “I am taking our company today and positioning it for the future,” he says. “Great companies go through this. Great companies evolve their culture. Great companies evolve their portfolios.”

He’s right about that. But great companies also lose their focus, too. It’s nice to see EBay returning to its core competency of connecting buyers and sellers. Now all it has to do is connect with a buyer (or buyers, in the event of an IPO) for Skype.