Monday
'Diller' of an Internet empire
Barry Diller
Barry Diller uses blunt words to describe his recent stint as head of Vivendi Universal Entertainment, the show biz empire that's about to be absorbed by NBC.
"Guess what? All it brought me was a lot of noise and abuse from every constituency," Diller told the Daily News during a recent interview in his elegant, minimalist office in Manhattan's ritzy Carnegie Hill Tower.
After an unpleasant return to show biz, the most scrutinized man in Hollywood has left the studio lot. Forget about "The Hulk." Diller, 61, is minding his monster-sized online empire - InterActiveCorp.
That's the publicly traded company formerly known as USA Interactive, a portfolio of some of the top names on the Internet, including travel sites Expedia and Hotels.com, dating service Match.com, ticketing giant Ticketmaster, financial services firm Lendingtree.com. and his latest conquest - discount Internet travel site Hotwire.
In August alone, nearly 39 million people logged on to Diller's online mall - more than Amazon's draw, according to data compiled by Deutsche Bank.
While many expected the former 20th Century Fox boss to jump at a shot at acquiring Universal Pictures and cable nets USA and Sci Fi, he passed. Investors who've made money betting on him aren't surprised.
That's because his comparatively boring InterActiveCorp job has become an online powerhouse. The stock's up more than 70% in the past year, compared to Viacom, down 10%.
"The sexy part is, he's found a company that will grow close to 50% over the next three years," said State Street Research's Larry Haverty, a longtime investor in Diller's companies.
"He's been able to understand what businesses work on the Internet," said Oppenheimer analyst Peter Mirsky.
Still, InterActiveCorp stock is a laggard compared to its rocketing Internet peers. In the past year, Amazon has tripled and Yahoo's is up nearly four-fold.
Investors are concerned that Hotels.com and Expedia could face big hotel tax payments, an issue chronicled in The New York Times and denied by Diller.
The company "has investigated every aspect" of the tax issue, Diller said. "We've taken an appropriate reserve of $12 million. We think that's adequate."
There's also fear Diller will make a risky acquisition with InterActiveCorp's multibillion dollar war chest.
Though Diller's no longer running the Universal entertainment empire, he remains a nuisance for NBC and Vivendi.
As a result of an earlier deal, InterActiveCorp holds an interest in Vivendi Universal Entertainment, which Diller values at about $2.5 billion. On top of that, Diller personally holds a stake worth about $275 million. Vivendi wants out.
So does Diller, who sees an opportunity to turn his stake into cash. He's expected to play hard ball to extract big concessions from his partner. InterActiveCorp already stirred things up by suing Vivendi for tax reimbursements. "Everyone knows he can be a real pain in the ass," a source said.
"We stand in no one's way, we have no ambition, we're happy for (the investment) to stay forever," Diller said.
The studio boss-turned-Internet don started out in the mailroom of the William Morris Agency. At ABC he launched the fabled "Movie of the Week" before moving to top posts at three movie studios.
In 1992, Diller, who's married to designer Diane von Furstenberg, left Fox to plot his next move. "I became curious about this magic box called the personal computer," he said.
Some cling to the idea that he'll return to Hollywood.
"It is just easier for people to think I have some big yen for entertainment businesses," Diller said. "The truth of my life is, since 1992, it's been completely different."
Barry Diller uses blunt words to describe his recent stint as head of Vivendi Universal Entertainment, the show biz empire that's about to be absorbed by NBC.
"Guess what? All it brought me was a lot of noise and abuse from every constituency," Diller told the Daily News during a recent interview in his elegant, minimalist office in Manhattan's ritzy Carnegie Hill Tower.
After an unpleasant return to show biz, the most scrutinized man in Hollywood has left the studio lot. Forget about "The Hulk." Diller, 61, is minding his monster-sized online empire - InterActiveCorp.
That's the publicly traded company formerly known as USA Interactive, a portfolio of some of the top names on the Internet, including travel sites Expedia and Hotels.com, dating service Match.com, ticketing giant Ticketmaster, financial services firm Lendingtree.com. and his latest conquest - discount Internet travel site Hotwire.
In August alone, nearly 39 million people logged on to Diller's online mall - more than Amazon's draw, according to data compiled by Deutsche Bank.
While many expected the former 20th Century Fox boss to jump at a shot at acquiring Universal Pictures and cable nets USA and Sci Fi, he passed. Investors who've made money betting on him aren't surprised.
That's because his comparatively boring InterActiveCorp job has become an online powerhouse. The stock's up more than 70% in the past year, compared to Viacom, down 10%.
"The sexy part is, he's found a company that will grow close to 50% over the next three years," said State Street Research's Larry Haverty, a longtime investor in Diller's companies.
"He's been able to understand what businesses work on the Internet," said Oppenheimer analyst Peter Mirsky.
Still, InterActiveCorp stock is a laggard compared to its rocketing Internet peers. In the past year, Amazon has tripled and Yahoo's is up nearly four-fold.
Investors are concerned that Hotels.com and Expedia could face big hotel tax payments, an issue chronicled in The New York Times and denied by Diller.
The company "has investigated every aspect" of the tax issue, Diller said. "We've taken an appropriate reserve of $12 million. We think that's adequate."
There's also fear Diller will make a risky acquisition with InterActiveCorp's multibillion dollar war chest.
Though Diller's no longer running the Universal entertainment empire, he remains a nuisance for NBC and Vivendi.
As a result of an earlier deal, InterActiveCorp holds an interest in Vivendi Universal Entertainment, which Diller values at about $2.5 billion. On top of that, Diller personally holds a stake worth about $275 million. Vivendi wants out.
So does Diller, who sees an opportunity to turn his stake into cash. He's expected to play hard ball to extract big concessions from his partner. InterActiveCorp already stirred things up by suing Vivendi for tax reimbursements. "Everyone knows he can be a real pain in the ass," a source said.
"We stand in no one's way, we have no ambition, we're happy for (the investment) to stay forever," Diller said.
The studio boss-turned-Internet don started out in the mailroom of the William Morris Agency. At ABC he launched the fabled "Movie of the Week" before moving to top posts at three movie studios.
In 1992, Diller, who's married to designer Diane von Furstenberg, left Fox to plot his next move. "I became curious about this magic box called the personal computer," he said.
Some cling to the idea that he'll return to Hollywood.
"It is just easier for people to think I have some big yen for entertainment businesses," Diller said. "The truth of my life is, since 1992, it's been completely different."
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