Diller Defends Denying Liberty Media Proposals

When John Malone came calling about possible asset swaps between Liberty Media and IAC, Barry Diller turned them down for not providing good value to IAC investors.

The IAC breakup into five companies became a plan after about a year of fruitless discussions between Diller and Malone. Both moguls tried to find a swap of assets between the two firms that would give Diller Liberty’s stake in IAC.

None of those deals came to fruition as the New York Times noted. Diller believe Malone’s proposals did not offer IAC’s stakeholders a fair shake:

“We never accepted one of them,” Mr. Diller said, “because we never got to the value that was appropriate for IAC shareholders.”

In the wake of Malone accusing Diller of threatening to use his proxy voting power to force the breakup plan through, Liberty Media’s leader painted Diller as an overcompensated executive who was more in tune with maximizing time on the corporate jet than leading IAC to profitability.

There may be a light at the end of this litigation-filled tunnel, and not necessarily one at the front of an oncoming train. Barron’s said the two sides have been engaged in settlement talks while their top executives spend quality time in Delaware’s Court of Chancery sparring over control of IAC.