EBay’s explanation/sales pitch to investors includes a 78-page PowerPoint presentation . (via BW’s Rob Hof, who did a great job overnight with this story.)

—Slide #6: Skype will accelerate commerce on eBay; Skype opens up new lines of business, new monetization models, new geographies; A great standalone communications business; eBay + PayPal + Skype =
Unparalleled e-commerce and communications engine.

—Slide #14: Skype has moved from 19.8 million registered users at the end of 2004 to 44.1 million at the end of 2Q05 and a projected 57 million in 3Q05. (The press release already claims 54 million.)

—Slide #22: Skypes adds pay-per-call to eBay’s transaction-based revenue. In eBay-speak, this removes a “key friction.”

—Slide #44: This may be a personal favorite; one selling point is that the founders also founded Kazaa.

—Slide #48: eBay, commerce; PayPal, payments; Skype, communication; Google, search; Yahoo, content.

—Slide #77: “The power of 3.” Wonder if Aaron Spelling is going to charge royalties for eBay’s use of the slogan from his “Charmed” series about three witches who are more powerful together than apart.

Here’s the full eBay Skype press/investor package.