Barry Diller
Barry Charles Diller (born February 2, 1942) is an American businessman. He is chairman and senior executive of IAC and Expedia Group and founded the Fox Broadcasting Company and USA Broadcasting. Diller was inducted into the Television Hall of Fame in 1994.
Barry Diller
University of California, Los Angeles (no degree)
Media executive
1964–present
- Chairman and Senior Executive, IAC
(2010–Present) - Chairman and CEO, IAC
(1995–2010) - Chairman and Senior Executive, Expedia Group
(2005–Present) - Director, MGM Resorts International
(2020–Present) - Director, The Coca-Cola Company
(2002–Present) - Director, Tripadvisor
(2012–2013) - Chairman and Senior Executive, Tripadvisor
(2011–2012) - Director, Live Nation Entertainment
(2010–2011) - Chairman, Live Nation Entertainment
(2010–2010) - Chairman and CEO, 20th Century Fox (1984–1992)
- Chairman and CEO, Paramount Pictures
(1974–1984)
Early life[edit]
Diller was born on February 2, 1942 in San Francisco, California,[1] to Michael Diller and his wife Reva (née Addison).[2][3]
"The Killer Dillers"[edit]
Diller is responsible for what the media dubs "The Killer Dillers" – people whom Diller mentored and who later became major media and internet executives in their own right. Examples include Michael Eisner (who was President of Paramount Pictures while Diller was its Chairman & CEO, and went on to become Chairman & CEO of The Walt Disney Company), Jeffrey Katzenberg (a head of production of Paramount under Diller who became a co-founder of DreamWorks SKG and former head of DreamWorks Animation and Walt Disney Studios), Strauss Zelnick (President at Fox while Diller was its Chairman and CEO who became the founder and CEO of private equity firm ZMC, the chairman and CEO of video game company Take-Two Interactive), Don Simpson (who was President of Production at Paramount under Diller and Eisner before forming an independent production company initially based on the Paramount lot with Jerry Bruckheimer), Dara Khosrowshahi (CEO of Uber), Dawn Steel (a VP of Production for Paramount when Diller was Chair & CEO; she went on to become President of Columbia Pictures, one of the first women to run a major movie studio) and Garth Ancier (former president of BBC America).[40]
Diller worked with Stephen Chao at Fox Television Network, whom he later hired as President of Programming and Marketing at USA Network. Julius Genachowski, chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, served as Diller's General Counsel during their tenure at USA Broadcasting, and again as Chief of Business Operations and a member of Barry Diller's Office of the Chairman at IAC/InterActiveCorp.
Accusations of insider trading[edit]
On March 9, 2022, The Wall Street Journal reported that Diller, David Geffen and his stepson, Alex Von Furstenberg were being investigated by the Securities and Exchange Commission and the United States Department of Justice for insider trading of options on Activision Blizzard just three days before Microsoft's announced acquisition. Diller denied the allegations and claimed "It was simply a lucky bet."[41]
