Gawker
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preferences
Barry Diller Will Cater to Very Specific Sexual Tastes
After pawning off his highbrow cultural shopping newsletter on the New York Observer, what does Barry Diller buy? Sites for people with fetishes for the "Big and Beautiful," Black Baby Boomers and Italians. Diller, after all, knows from picky. (Pic)
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3
By Ryan TateComment by saintjim: That is one specific fetish. Not just black, but a black baby boomer. "I just can't get off until you... 1 Responses | Other threads
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jared kushner
Typo, Filler Ad, Mainstream Movie Herald New York Observer's Second Very Short List
How is shopping newsletter Very Short List doing on the second day under the New York Observer's ownership? Poorly enough to motivate mogul wannabe Jared Kushner to hire some dedicated staff, perhaps. More »
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By Ryan TateComment by ninety_nine: Maybe they thought DO was a new section in the 'revamped' Observer. Fun fact that you might have been able... 1 Responses | Other threads
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deals
'The Observer's Very Short List' Proudly Brought to You by the New York Observer
The first edition of email newsletter Very Short List is out for the first time under the control of New York Observer publisher Jared Kushner. What advertiser do you think he lined up? More »
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By Ryan TateComment by The Dominant Glee Club: High-brown? What is going with Gawker lately? 6 Responses | Other threads
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breaking
'Very Short List's Been Sold To Jared Kushner, We're All Fired.'
A source writes in: ink on the long-rumored deal selling IAC property Very Short List to Jared Kushner and The New York Observer's dry. VSLers have been fired, and the property's clumsily fallen into the Observer's hands, now. Update: confirmed.
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By Foster KamerComment by Awesome X: Ethical question. You were just canned. The new you is on the phone, asking how to do the job you'd... 4 Responses | Other threads
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moguls
The Very Long Con of a Very Short List
Barry Diller's effort to pawn off Very Short List, his failed shopping newsletter for the rich, is turning into a classic New York media folly — a big drama over a puny digital property. More »
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By Ryan TateComment by CoachHogan: Which is it, guys? 40 percent or one fifth? 5 Responses | Other threads
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mogul toys
Barry Diller's Not-So-Exclusive 'Very Short List'
Very Short List has been a favorite bauble of Barry Diller since the IAC chief established it nearly three years ago, after failing to buy Daily Candy. He envisioned VSL as a smart, tidy newsletter. But it looks worrisomely distended. More »
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By Ryan TateComment by Nick Denton: From Kurt Andersen: Hi, Nick. In addition to being un true, the suggestion in the Gawker item that "the [VSL]... 1 Responses | Other threads
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eating disorders
Barry Diller: Picky Eater
Heterosexual business magnate Barry Diller was a guest on CNBC's Power Lunch today, which was shot on location at the Four Seasons. And he freaked out when they tried to make him eat. More »
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By John CookComment by Smitros: I'm wondering why "heterosexual" is significant here. [Insert sociolinguistic stuff about marked and unmarked conditions, etc.] Most business magnate type... 2 Responses | Other threads
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layoffs
Ticketmaster lays off an estimated 1,000 employees
The layoffs are moving up the food chain, from the startups to the larger tech beasts. FuckedStartups writes that Ticketmaster is laying off 35 percent of its 3,000-plus staff, which squares with other reports I've heard. Ticketmaster is besieged with competition from concert promoter LiveNation, and was recently spun off by IAC. If I had to bet, I'd say these cuts have as much to do with removing the layers of cruft which accumulated under years of flitty mismanagement by IAC CEO Barry Diller as they do with the economy.
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By Owen ThomasComment by CheyenneCado: Well I can confirm they laid off half of the SF office excluding Ticketweb and the other little SF company... more » | Other threads
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Blamestorming
Barry Diller blames investors for IAC stock price
Buried in a Wall Street Journal interview with Barry Diller, CEO of the ever-shifting Internet conglomerate IAC, which owns Ask.com and some other websites, was a nugget of insight revealing what Diller thinks of the people who invest in his company. Asked about IAC's stock performance, he replied:The truth is the market made judgments, and the recent judgments have been poor. There were legitimate reasons for that. Now, there are operating facts about this company that are irrefutable: It has revenue, it has earnings, it has a lot of cash and no debt. More »
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By Owen ThomasComment by macbeach: Haven't you heard? The Dems (mostly) are working on a new plan that doesn't actually require investors. All you have... more » | Other threads
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search
Is Ask.com feeling lucky?
Ask.com's latest revamp, unveiled by CEO Jim Safka to the New York Times, attempts to dive deeper into the Web, pulling "structured data," a fashionable buzzword, from sources like TV listings and health databases. Give Barry Diller's scrappy search engine, owned by his IAC conglomerate, this much: When at first it doesn't succeed, it tries, tries, tries again. But you can't blame the market, or users, for finding all this trying, well, trying. More »
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By Owen ThomasComment by ILikeThemBig: I'd like to blame Barry for something. How about for spending nearly 2 billion on the fourth ranked search... more » | Other threads
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iac
Barry Diller shows the children his Zwinky Cuties
At an oh-so-pink party in Times Square yesterday — one stuffed with enough cupcakes to Google's Marissa Mayer proud — IAC launched a virtual world for girls aged 6 to 12, calling it Zwinky Cuties. Barry Diller presided and I captured the bizarre affair in video. More » -
caption contest
You know little boy, I have much I can teach you
At the Diane von Fürstenberg show at New York's Fashion Week, Google cofounder Sergey Brin and his 23andMe cofounder wife Anne Wojcicki were spotted front and center. Which is hilarious, since Brin is rarely seen in anything but a t-shirt and jeans — hopefully he wore more stylish footwear than Crocs. Here he's spotted in the usual ensemble with Barry Diller, CEO of IAC, who had the sense to wear actual fashion. Friday's winner was hmann with "No, it's $40 for one song. You have to buy your own drinks, and there's no touching." (Photo by Getty/Michael Tran)
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By Jackson WestComment by MosseyCade: Sergey's SHORTER than Barry Diller??!! more » | Other threads
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copyfight
Is Opentape a jab at the RIAA?
Following the shutdown of Muxtape, a site for posting online mixtapes, in a dispute with the music industry, someone has launched Opentape.fm, where you can download code to easily create your own Muxtape-like online mixtapes of MP3 files. And if the creators of Muxtape aren't directly responsible, they probably fed Opentape's developers everything they would need. The first clue is that the site is powered by the favored online publishing platform of millennial hipsters, Tumblr. Another clue is that the domain registration information points to 152 W. 57th Street in Manhattan, which just happens to be IAC CEO Barry Diller's address (Justin Ouellette, Muxtape's founder, worked at IAC site Vimeo). Then there are two small hints in the code: More »
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By Jackson WestComment by FaceMelter: This package communicates with the internet via cURL and sends information that identifies the host website. How funny would... 1 Responses | Other threads
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revivals
Tina Brown To Release The Beast
Tina Brown has worked in the US for more than two decades, since taking the helm of Vanity Fair in 1984; and she's now attempting to reinvent herself for the internet. But Lady Evans, as the 55-year-old former magazine editor is also entitled to call herself, remains at heart a Brit of an earlier generation, pickled in ink and arch wit. Her forthcoming news site, backed by old patron Barry Diller of IAC, is to be dubbed The Daily Beast, after the shameless tabloid of Evelyn Waugh's 1938 novel Scoop. The Digg kiddies will be so confused.
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By Nick DentonComment by krismry: We used to have periods at the ends of sentences but the smart set knows where they ought to go!... more » | Other threads
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earnings
IAC down more than half a billion in second quarter
In the second quarter, IAC swung from a $94.6 million profit last year to a $421.6 million loss this year. Don't blame Jakob Lodwick! His former company, Vimeo, is nowhere near the top of IAC/InterActiveCorp's expense report for the past quarter. The real problem at Barry Diller's Internet empire is Cornerstone Brands, a rollup of catalog companies undermined by weak consumer spending in home and apparel retail. Cornerstone's losses led to a $300 million writedown in goodwill in IAC's second quarter. In addition, the soft real estate market cut revenue for home financing site LendingTree nearly in half. More » -
max levchin
Barry Diller reveals he still likes them young in Sun Valley
At Allen & Co.'s annual schmoozefest in Sun Valley, Idaho, there were a lot of regulars, like IAC's Barry Diller — and a few new faces, like Slide CEO Max Levchin. Julia Boorstin of CNBC reports that the two were "lingering" together at lunch. This after Kevin Rose reported how Diller charmed More » -
the chart
Vimeo without founder Jakob Lodwick: quite successful
Is IAC's Vimeo, the video-sharing site founded by bizarrely charismatic (and just plain bizarre) New York entrepreneur Jakob Lodwick, missing its founder? In a word, no. Lodwick lost his job due to insubordination last November; his dare-you-to-sue-me funding of an IAC employee's music startup, in an apparent violation of his noncompete agreement, is right in line with the nose-thumbing he did while on the job. We heard IAC finally fired Lodwick because he would blow off meetings with upper management when it wanted to talk to him about things like marketing and growth. So who got it right — IAC chairman Barry Diller's suits, or the wannabe iconoclast? More »
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Comment by fluffy: Vinny is spot on. You have to look at the massive impact the closure of Stage6.com had on high-quality... more » | Other threads
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online advertising
Barry Diller, IAC, kick out third-party ad networks
After selling its premium advertising inventory, the 63 companies that used to make up Barry Diller's IAC sell the remnants to third-party ad networks, which pay $1 or $1.50 per thousand pagviews. Not a great business. In an effort to boost those CPMs nearer to $6, IAC will from now on instead pool the inventory from the 63 companies and then divide it up based on advertiser-friendly demographics. AdAge reports that IAC will define its wealthy users, for example, as More » -
kevin rose
Kevin Rose gushes over Digg-shoppers Murdoch, Diller and Gore
When Diggnation cohost Alex Albrecht said Kevin Rose has "basically plowed through everybody" maybe he wasn't only referring to the Digg cofounder's dating habits. DIgg's gone through quite a few potential buyers over the years, including News Corp., IAC and Al Gore's TV network, Current. Except, as illustrated in this excerpt from Big Think's interview with Rose, there's one big difference between Rose's love life and Digg's many turns on the auction block. More »
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Comment by porterhouse125: Diller is a real class act- always talking about how generous and liberal he is, and then buying one of... more » | Other threads
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By Nick DentonComment by Durannie: AvF looks an awful lot like a guy with whom I did a scene for a porn video recently. Hmmmmm............ 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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search
IAC wants black people to love Rushmore Drive
Barry Diller's IAC is throwing a launch party in New York tonight for new portal Rushmore Drive, which includes an Ask-based search engine manicured to appeal to African-Americans. Fast Company senior editor and blogger Lynne D. Johnson managed to sneak an early screenshot and some marketing messaging online. The project, launched at IAC's typically glacial pace, has been in the works for a year, and IAC plans to target other niche demos in the future, Johnson reports. According to the latest data from Pew Internet, 56 percent of African-Americans use the Internet. Might be a good place for Google to post some job listings.
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By Jackson WestComment by Jackson West: The generally accepted linguistic term is African-American Vernacular English, and it's just one of dozens of English vernaculars, dialects and... more » | Other threads
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refugees
Tina Brown "Still Having Trouble Getting Her Email"
The picture of the grandes dames of New York publishing, fighting for places aboard the internet lifeboats, is a source of endless amusement—not least because they bring their feuds with them.
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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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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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layoffs
Ask.com cuts jobs, targets housewife demographic
As Barry Diller curtails both Ask.com's ambitions and its workforce, his hired hand is turning it into the Home Shopping Network of search engines. CEO Jim Safka says 65 percent of its users are female with a high concentration in their late 30s in the Midwest and Southeast. In an attempt to try to get also-ran search site back on track, Safka is laying off eight percent of Ask's employees and "reevaluating" its strategy. "Everything we do will be put through this strategic filter," he says. At last, a search engine that plays in Peoria. The only problem is that even Midwestern housewives know how to Google.
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Comment by jerr: wow! looks like ask might as well get its butler back on: they are back to 1999. full circle.... more » | Other threads
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videogames
Search isn't working, so Diller tries another flooded market
As his search engine Ask.com inches toward irrelevance, besieged IAC CEO Barry Diller has found another crowded market to pour cash into: videogames. According to Variety, Diller plans to invest $50 million to $100 million of IAC's money on InstantAction, a new site from recently acquired IAC subsidiary GarageGames. GarageGames doesn't develop games quite so "casual" as the type Mark Pincus's Zynga produces, but the venture's product will still be Internet-based games made for those who don't want to waste time in front of a TV. Just like everyone else in the market, only a year or two later.
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Comment by curthopkins: Yes, some of the other commenters are quite right. This is hardly PopCap. We see InstantAction as being easy to... more » | Other threads
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rumormonger
Layoff rumors stir the herd at Ask.com
"This place was buzzing today that there will be layoffs here soon," an Ask.com employee tips us off. The tipster complains that since completing "a bunch of tests for new ways to make money, no one in my group has seen or heard from management [since] they had a pizza lunch the first week of January." It's the second Ask layoff rumor we've heard this month. More »
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Comment by WillVille: I like Barry, but I don't think I've ever got a desireable search result from ask.com... Ever! more » | Other threads
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nerdspotting
Jakob Lodwick invades Bay Area; hide your women, venture capitalists
Jakob Lodwick is back in the Bay Area, kicking it at his cousin's San Francisco-based startup. The only thing slightly more terrifying than the prospect of one of our local girls becoming his new softcore pinup is the notion that Lodwick might end his blogging strike. Oh wait, he has — three times over. Lodwick, unemployed after getting fired from Connected Venture by Barry Diller, lasted 20 days without blogging. Alongside our daily dose of Jakob Lodwick, he'll expose us to stuff he likes, and apparently work on a political manifesto dubbed The Invisible Fist in which he'll attempt to destroy capitalism as we know it. Good luck on Sand Hill Road, Jakob.
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Comment by vulturesquadron: Quibble: This guy is not a nerd by any reasonable definition. A proper nerd is plus intelligent, minus character... more » | Other threads
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the way we were
Back when Barry Diller was full of bright ideas
The argument goes that IAC chairman Barry Diller is battling with John Malone over control of the company because he's never been the visionary he claims to be. Odd. He certainly seemed like one back in 1999. That's when he appeared on Charlie Rose to explain why his company, then called USA Networks, tried to acquire Lycos for $20 billion. Check out the clip. Nine years ago, Diller nailed the Internet. Though maybe not the Lycos deal. -
rumormonger
More heads to roll at IAC?
A tipster tells us to expect a "big shakeup at Ask.com," including "change in product lineup and company direction." The shakeup "could effect CA and NJ office, Lots of SVP, EVP, VP, CTO types that probably are redundant." It's a vague and poorly sourced rumor, but with IAC and its chairman Barry Diller already under siege, such a shakeup certainly is plausible. Especially since — judging by M&A exec Jason Rapp, who was recently transferred to unspecified new duties — it may have already begun. -
barry diller
Why Did Barry Diller Marry?
Despite the beating the IAC boss is receiving in the business press, Barry Diller showed up last night at the grandest party of Fashion Week, the bizarre event sponsored by Gucci for poor Malawian children each of whom could survive a decade for the price of the fashion label's more expensive accessories. By the internet mogul's side, as usual, Diane von Furstenberg, the fashion designer he wed in 2001. Which is as good a time as any to ask the age-old question: why on earth does 65-year-old Diller, an inducted member of the boy-loving velvet mafia, persist with such a sham of a marriage? (Clue: it's something to do with the good-looking baldie on the left.)
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By Nick DentonComment by Nick Denton: @ILikeThemBig: Hey, I don't think we're exactly badgering Diller on this subject alone. The main reason we're covering him at... 1 Responses | Other threads
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oped
Why Microsoft-Yahoo Would Be Bad News For Media
In internet land, everybody's very excited about the Redmond software giant's bid for Jerry Yang's languishing internet directory. Where would a combination leave AOL? (Answer: without an obvious acquirer or partner.) What about the challenge to Google? (Finally, a competitor, financed by Microsoft's profits from its bloated operating system and office applications.) Most of the commentary is overblown. Fusing two mediocre internet units, Microsoft's MSN and Yahoo, will not magically produce a dynamic challenger to Google; merely, if business precedent is any guide, mediocrity on a greater scale. Unfortunately, the petrified traditional media companies don't know that. (They don't know anything really.) And that's why the creation of another internet behemoth would be so pernicious.
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By Nick DentonComment by vulturesquadron: Does anyone really confuse this liquidation of Yahoo for a proper sale? Remember when IBM mattered in the operating system, hardware,... more » | Other threads
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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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iac
Barry Diller's Vocabulary
Barry Diller has, for a corporate titan, always had a fondness for colorful language. The IAC boss calls executives "sweetheart" (usually with a touch of queeny menace) when he's not telling them (with more macho aggression) to hit the fucking sidewalk and sell the ads themselves. In today's email to employees of his languishing internet conglomerate, obtained by Gawker, there's a new vocabulary. He dismisses an attempted corporate coup by IAC's biggest shareholder as "shenanigans", and John Malone's charges are "hogwash". (Like Britney Spears, Barry Diller affects an English accent when under stress.) Update: We had assumed the Anglicisms were inspired by Jonathan Sanchez, the New York internet group's chief communications officer and a favorite at the court of Diller. But an insider tells us Sanchez, known for introducing the word "cunt" into the IAC lexicon, was canned at the weekend. Damnation!
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By Nick DentonComment by Lucia Toledo: Not subway tearooms; more like Santa Monica Boulevard... 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] -
venture capital
HealthCentral takes cash from Barry Diller, Michael Moritz
HealthCentral just announced $50 million in funding. The round included a major investment from IAC and smaller contributions from prior investors Sequoia Capital, Carlyle Group and Polaris Venture Partners. HealthCentral operates several health-related websites, including the long-troubled DrKoop.com, which was once a publicly traded company a bubble or two ago. Here's how their traffic looked last year, according to Compete. It's nice and all, but stick around for the one comparing HealthCentral to WebMD. If I used the word pwnage, I would. But I don't. More »
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