Gawker
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barry diller
Gay Mogul's 'Stuff-Less' Marriage
IAC's Barry Diller has just explained—to the audience at the Wall Street Journal's D Conference—the breakdown of his relationship with the internet conglomerate's biggest shareholder, evil John Malone's Liberty Media. Paid Content was taking notes. Diller's metaphor? "Partnerships are marriages without the stuff." Oops, Freudian slip! More »
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By Nick DentonComment by PaperBoy: So ... now that you've stripped mined Emily Gould worse than, well, Emily Gould, THIS is all you can come... more » | Other threads
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acquisitions
Ask.com buys reference site Lexico
Lexico, the company behind reference sites like Dictionary.com and Thesaurus.com, has been acquired by also-ran search engine Ask.com, a unit of Barry Diller's IAC, for an undisclosed sum. It will mean an 11 percent boost in traffic for Ask and more revenue for Lexico's sites, as Google had cut a special deal with IAC for a higher revenue share than it would give to the likes of Dictionary.com. Possibly tipping their hand about future moves, Ask CEO Jim Safka told the AP the site was also looking to improve results related to health and entertainment, presumably through more acquisitions. The move comes after IAC's Barry Diller settled a fight with Liberty's John Malone, a major IAC shareholder, over plans to split the company into five different parts.
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By Jackson WestComment by vulturesquadron: @narnio: My problem is IAC is just based on their silly approach of creating a conglomerate of decent companies that... more » | Other threads
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iac
Humble Diller Not That Humble
Having escaped John Malone's hook, former studio boss and internet tycoon Barry Diller is attempting to reinvent himself, says Portfolio's Duff McDonald. The new Diller trademark? Humility. "We were kidding ourselves if we thought we could pull off an integrated conglomerate that acts like G.E. or P&G in anything less than 10, 20, or 30 years." Diller is indeed cutting internet conglomerate IAC down to a more manageable rump of web sites such as Ask, Citysearch and Evite. But the 65-year-old tycoon hasn't entirely lost his trademark vindictiveness. Doug Lebda—who sold Diller online mortgage search engine Lending Tree for $726m before the real-estate bubble burst—was prepared to buy the business back at a discount. Why hasn't that happened? "No one is allowed to school Diller twice," says a mogul watcher.
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By Nick DentonComment by ifstone: Diller still hasn't lost his sense of tackiness, which was always odd given what a bright guy he is. more » | Other threads
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iac
IAC's Summer Explosion
"IAC/InterActiveCorp boss Barry Diller is pushing ahead with plans to break up his company into five separate businesses, and downplaying talk about a possible asset swap with Liberty Media...Diller said he hopes to complete the spin-offs by August." [Post] -
feuds
Barry Diller, John Malone May Kiss And Make Up
"Fresh off his legal victory over Liberty Media, IAC/InterActiveCorp boss Barry Diller is expected to meet with his board this week to restart the process of breaking up his company into five separate pieces, The Post has learned. At the same time, sources said Diller and Liberty Media Chairman John Malone are continuing to talk about a deal that would trade one or more of IAC's assets for Liberty's ownership stake in IAC." [Post]
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By Ryan TateComment by ILikeThemBig: This should really be filed under "absolutely unsurprising" vs. feuds. more » | Other threads
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moguls
Barry Diller Chooses Grandpa Font
So internet mogul Barry Diller won the struggle for control of IAC, the ungainly conglomerate which owns sites such as Ticketmaster and College Humor. Here's his celebratory announcement to employees. It's rather clunkier than one expects of the highly quotable IAC boss. Presumably Diller means, in the last line, that employees can have more confidence in the future; wishing IAC colleagues instead more surefootedness implies that IAC's missteps were somehow their fault. And some graphically-aware assistant really should help the 66-year-old former studio boss change his default email font.
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By Nick DentonComment by fuzzymuffins: comic sans is removed from my computer. more » | Other threads
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lawsuits
Killer Diller the victor in IAC breakup case
Score one for the bitter old queen. Barry Diller, battling with major IAC shareholder John Malone in court, has won the right to break up IAC without interference from Malone's Liberty. This solves one problem for Diller, but creates another. Instead of running one hodgepodge of Internet businesses, he'll have five of them to worry about. Sparring with Malone, a business ally turned enemy, will look simple compared to regaining Wall Street's affections.
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By Owen ThomasComment by Hamud Ibn Hamud: Bitter old queen. Geez. Is it possible to pack any more cliched contempt into just three words? I mean, the guy hasn't... more » | Other threads
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quote of the day
Barry Diller Gets The Point
The scene: two billionaires, former friends, are feuding over an internet conglomerate, IAC. John Malone's initial salvo comes in quotes given by the corporate assassin to the Wall Street Journal. Barry Diller, IAC's chairman, described his reaction in this week's court struggle for control of the sprawling internet company. More »
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By Nick DentonComment by ILikeThemBig: There's a missing target in all this coverage on Gawker - Greg Maffei, who is clearly working out some anger... more » | Other threads
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iac
Barry Diller Does Not Appreciate Your Speaking Badly Of IAC
Barry Diller is still pissed at Greg Maffei, the Liberty Media executive who broke up his close relationship with Liberty Chairman John Malone. Here is how Diller began testimony in his court battle to retain control of IAC: "Mr. Maffei, 47 years old, was an 'irresponsible executive,' Mr. Diller testified in Delaware Chancery Court. 'For over a year and a half, he has spoken badly about our businesses and our managers,' said Mr. Diller, who is scheduled to continue his testimony today." [WSJ] -
alex von furstenberg
Diller's Dynasty
Here's more evidence that Barry Diller sees the family of his companion, Diane von Furstenberg, as the dynasty the gay media mogul would never have otherwise had. The court battle over control of Diller's IAC has turned up an email in which Diller discussed a plan to seize voting control of the internet conglomerate. The recipient: not a business advisor, but sexy baldie Alex von Furstenberg, son of the fashion designer and likely heir to Diller's fortune.
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By Nick DentonComment by minou: @donmiguel: Not really. It's been said before, just for some reason this post brought it home for me. more » | Other threads
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barry diller
To Paraphrase Clausewitz
For IAC's Barry Diller and his backer John Malone, the two billionaires wrestling for control of the internet conglomerate this week, a lawsuit is merely the continuation of negotiation by other means. A witness notes that the moguls are continuing settlement talks even as they trash each other in a Delaware court. -
iac
The Man Who Came Between Diller And Malone
Evil queen and IAC CEO Barry Diller used to get along great with his gruff sugar daddy John Malone of Liberty Media, making business dates and talking about deals together. Then Greg Maffei came along, from the kill-or-be-killed culture of software maker Oracle, and became Malone's new "point man." All of a sudden, "everything got much more contentious" between Malone and Diller, an IAC board member testified yesterday, in a trail where Diller and Malone are struggling for control of the company. Now Diller is just a spurned partner "looking for a divorce," Maffei said. [NYT, WSJ]
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By Ryan TateComment by SarahHeartburn: @Dickdogfood: He's got more money than the Pope. more » | Other threads
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iac
Barry Diller's Fine Art
One expects flouncy Barry Diller, when he testifies in this week's court battle for control of IAC, will provide the colorful language which has kept journalists sweet for him for so many decades. But John Malone, the soulless corporate raider who is trying to seize the internet conglomerate from Diller, didn't do so badly himself today. The Coloradan billionaire told the Delaware court that the extravagant Diller, who decked out his office in IAC's Gehry-designed headquarters with fabulously expensive rugs, had made "a fine art" of his exploitation of the company jet.
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By Nick DentonComment by SixString: I've never really thought of Diller as flouncy. His jet abuse is nothing new though - the wall... more » | Other threads
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leaks
Diller to IAC HQ on lawsuit: best of all possible worlds
Internet mogul Barry Diller is locked in a battle with former cable baron John Malone for control over IAC, and he told his staff last night to expect the case to go to court this week. Writes a tipster:Barry sent out an email to corporate last night saying the case will be this week, everything will be fine, iac's stock been doing really well thanks to everyone at IAC corporate etc. I don't have a copy but if you know someone there who can get you one, might be interesting to read in a Dr. Pangloss kind of way.
PaidContent got a copy of the candid Candide. Diller's email: More »
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By Owen ThomasComment by Blackjack: He's not quite William Wallace when it comes to inspiring the masses, is he? more » | Other threads
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exits
Barry Diller: I could be gone in a week
Barry Diller's battle with Liberty Media head John Malone for control over IAC could be over in a week, Diller told a crowd at a Variety event yesterday. "It's very odd that two people who don't want to give up control of anything are giving control to a judge in Delaware," he said. "The wonderful thing about Delaware is they do it quickly. They make a decision quickly." Some shareholders might wish for the same alacrity from Diller.
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Comment by ILikeThemBig: @sggrf: Why on earth would you fel bad for IAC? "Pretty bad," you say? For whom? ... more » | Other threads
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barry diller
Barry Diller's Secret Weapon: Shopping
How will Barry Diller get John "Darth Vader" Malone to put down his light saber and end his fight for Diller-controlled internet conglomerate IAC? Shopping! According to the Wall Street Journal, evil queen Diller's approach focuses on cable shopping network HSN, and will go something like this: Come on, Johnny Death Star, it'll be fun! When I called you "insane" I meant "insane about a good sale!" HSN totally redid their interior, out with the shoddy gauche stuff and in with Sephora and Scoop NYC. They stock TONS of black, which I know is your favorite. What I think you'll like best is that the prices haven't even changed. If you act now, you can get the shopping network for the same low, low price I offered before — the rest of IAC, safely in my hands — and I'll throw in the extra 5 percent in quarterly sales HSN just posted at no additional charge. And if you call now, I'll also add the Nike champ I lured to run HSN. [WSJ] -
translation
Barry Diller's Bravado
"If AOL came down in price to something ridiculous, we probably would look at it. I just doubt we have very much interest in it," says Barry Diller, announcing a loss at his internet conglomerate, IAC, which owns websites such as Ticketmaster and College Humor. Translation: Hogwash! It's touching that you reporters and analysts still pretend that I'm a big swinging mogul. I've got angry shareholders breathing down my neck, and I can barely retain control of my own company; there's no way I can handle another troubled business. In any case, the yacht needs new carpeting.
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By Nick DentonComment by M. Pompadour: I'm working all weekend to deal with this in the form of a document production. May Barry, et al. wither. more » | Other threads
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request for information
Barry Diller's Carpet
We don't resent the IAC billionaire's lavish lifestyle. If Diller wants to spend $200m on the world's largest sailing vessel, the 300-foot-long Eos, that's his business. "Once you're in boats, you either go bankrupt or you keep going," Diller told Lloyd Grove.The rumored $200,000 spent on silverware alone? Diller is 65 years old, and has worked hard all his life; he likes to entertain; so no judgment. But the tycoon's biggest backer, John Malone's Liberty Media, may not look so forgivingly on the expense of IAC's fancy headquarters. The Gehry-designed building on the Hudson waterfront of Manhattan, easily accessed by yacht, was quoted at a surprisingly modest $100m. But that was before decoration. We hear the fancy Italian carpeting of the IAC boss' office suite may have cost up to $1m. And I doubt Diller paid that out of his own pocket. IAC peons, or agents of Malone: what's the story? (After the jump, Diller explains his passion for big yachts: "It's not about size.") More »
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By Nick DentonComment by JorgeLuisGorgeous: As an IAC peon (who has seen the Dill in the elevator several times) all I have to say to... more » | Other threads
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barry diller
Diller Being Polite
Barry Diller's IAC claims in filings that the internet conglomerate's largest shareholder, John Malone's Liberty Media, is trying to "cripple" its business. The Colorado billionaire, aka Darth Vader, is attempting a boardroom coup. Strong language, but we were hoping for something more colorful from the embattled mogul, who had called the corporate predator's effort "insane" and his claims "hogwash". -
oped
Career Advice For Barry Diller
What should Barry Diller do? The IAC boss is being hung, slowly, by his largest shareholder. And for good reason: although online commerce and advertising is growing, the internet conglomerate has shrunk in value from $22bn to just over $7bn over five years. Barry Diller's reputation as a canny businessman, built up over decades in the movie and TV business, is tarnished. IAC has proven completely unable to build new businesses; and the New York group has had little success with the assets it bought. Let us count the fuckups.
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By Nick DentonComment by TheBigDoggy: Outstanding post, Nick. Congrats. more » | Other threads
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iac
What the Liberty fight reveals: Diller's no entrepreneur
Having borrowed his empire, Barry Diller is now living on borrowed time. Former cable baron John Malone's Liberty Media is trying to break the sophisticated financial arrangements which give Diller control over IAC, his online conglomerate. Diller calls the effort "insane," "hogwash." But here's the reality: Diller owns 28 percent of the company, while Liberty owns 24 percent, according to the company's most recent proxy statement. Liberty, however, controls nearly 60 percent of the company's voting stock. Diller, in turn, has the right to vote Liberty's shares. This complicated entanglement is what Liberty and Diller are fighting about. Far more interesting than the legalisms is what it shows about Diller — and why Diller's so unhappy about it. More »
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By Owen ThomasComment by Owen Thomas: @dbark: Right. Jeff Bezos might want to have a word with you about that latter claim. more » | Other threads
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barry diller
Evil Battle To The Death Joined, Insanely
It is really, truly war between dark media lord John Malone and his apprentice in evil, ruthless IAC queen Barry Diller. Malone has filed suit to remove Diller from a series of shell companies through which Diller maintains a stranglehold in IAC; he also alleged some sort of "misconduct." Diller, in turn, said the following: "I am beginning to think these people are insane. Everything they cite is hogwash." Those "insane" people Diller refers to control about 60 percent of his company, so it's safe to assume Diller will keep siphoning their profit into his paychecks and smashing his company into pieces that can't be taken from him. [Wall Street Journal]
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By Ryan TateComment by annasballs: Phyllis Diller is more interesting to me than Barry, but I am reminded of him when I drive by the... more » | Other threads
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feuds
The fight between John Malone and Barry Diller is getting brutal. As Diller prepares to spin off several businesses, leaving a company focused on the Oakland-based Ask.com search engine, Malone's Liberty Media has asked a court to remove Diller from IAC's board and allow Liberty to appoint several board members, in an effort to seize control of the company. Liberty owns 30 percent of IAC, and holds 62 percent of the voting rights, but an agreement allows Diller to vote Liberty's shares, giving him effective control of the company. [WSJ] -
barry diller
Darth Vader's Pupil
It's so hard to know which corporate villain to root for. John Malone, the 'Darth Vader' of the cable industry, has built up a dominant stake in Barry Diller's IAC and is putting on the squeeze with a lawsuit. But the internet conglomerate's killer queen has learned well from his evil master: Diller is turning Malone's shares against him, siphoning off outsized personal pay while he buys playthings like the College Humor kids, and generally runs Malone's investment into the ground. (Confused? Here's Duff McDonald's explanation.)
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By Nick DentonComment by HeyThatsMyBike: I love when bad guys fight bad guys! Alien vs. Predator XII: Douchey Queen vs. Darth more » | Other threads
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iac
Did Bill Miller sell out Barry Diller?
Word now comes that Liberty, former cable baron John Malone's company, has opportunistically paid $340 million for 14 million shares in Barry Diller's IAC, raising its stake to 30 percent. IAC, too, repurchased 6 million shares at the same time. That means that Diller must have begrudgingly consented to the sale; at the same time, he reached an agreement that prevented Malone from taking a bigger stake in the online conglomerate. But who was the seller? More »
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By Owen ThomasComment by SixString: @transparency: And, crucially, not REPORTED until Saturday. Point isn't when the shares were sold (although props to person who... more » | Other threads
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barry diller
Everybody's Scared Of Somebody
What's the meaning of the terse statement that billionaire John Malone has increased his stake in IAC to 30%? IAC's Barry Diller is pretty menacing, in a killer queen fashion. But Malone is the one tycoon that all the others, including Diller and even Rupert Murdoch, are scared by. His dealmaking ruthlessness is such that the Liberty Media boss was nicknamed 'Darth Vader' by his peers in the cable industry, in which he made his first fortune. In October, Malone bluntly told the Wall Street Journal he thought Barry Diller was no longer bringing value to Ticketmaster, Ask.com, College Humor and the other sites IAC owns. "The hook is set. It is our company," he said of IAC. "Barry ain't going to be able to spit the hook." By dropping the news on a Friday evening, Barry Diller may minimize his public humiliation. But that doesn't alter the reality: he's bent to Darth Vader's will. -
iac
Barry Diller's empire to break into tiny little bits
Telecom mogul John Malone has been putting the squeeze on his old buddy Barry Diller, who runs IAC. So what does Diller do? Break his search and e-commerce conglomerate into five parts. Diller's sticking with the new IAC, which will mostly consist of the Ask.com search engine — oh, and Jakob Lodwick, too. HSN, Ticketmaster, LendingTree, and Interval International are getting spun off. We just want to know who's getting stuck with the bill for IAC's new headquarters in Chelsea.
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1-27 of 27 for "Barry Diller, John Malone"
