IT'S NOT THAT DIAMONIQUE ISN'T SELLING WELL ANYMORE Giving Liberty Media chief John Malone more ammo in his move to oust Barry Diller, HSN and Ticketmaster.com parent IAC reports a fourth-quarter loss, surprising investors, even though revenue increased 8.1 percent. Damn that LendingTree.com and this mortgage crisis. [Bloomberg]
DILLER'S PICKLE "Insane," "hogwash," and "sideshow" are just some of the choice adjectives Barry Diller has used, over the past two days, to describe Liberty Media's John Malone and his lawsuit that aims to oust Diller as chief of IAC. In this article from Forbes.com's Lisa LaMotta, you'll learn that and more, like how these two found themselves in this situation after being best buds during their Paramount era. You'll also learn at least one analyst thinks there could be compromise found in this duel, with Liberty forgoing their super-voting shares.
The battle over IAC rages on, with Liberty Media chief and IAC shareholder John Malone refusing to let Barry Diller split the company into five units, and effectively stripping Malone of power.
Malone sued last week to stop Diller's canceling of Malone's super "B" shares; Diller counter-sued to keep the ball rolling into divesting the company. And now Malone is back in court, accusing Diller of "breaching his fiduciary responsibility" and looking to have him ousted as chief executive.
Naturally, both parties find themselves in the right, though sticking to character, Diller is getting more boisterous about it. Queen.

You probably haven't logged on to Ask.com since some warped deal between Barry Diller and your computer manufacturer had it set as your default homepage, but perhaps you're familiar with other IAC properties, like Match.com (where you've already exhausted any potential matches), Ticketmaster.com (where you're still wondering what's so convenient about "convenience fees") and CitySearch.com (which you visit to get the address of a restaurant, but not to read visitor reviews).
Still nothing? How about that glacier-like office building on the West Side Highway that got a mention the November Vanity Fair article about Diller's beard, Diane von Furstenberg? Ahh, there you go.
Is the Internet's biggest gay married man looking to unload his Home Shopping Network? Analysts sure hope so!
With the stock of Barry Diller's IAC (nee InterActivCorp) – responsible for that building on the West Side Highway that looks like a glacier – in the crapper, stock trackers are issuing a resounding "sell HSN!" In fact, according to one smarty pants, "a lot of people would be happy if IAC sold off the Home Shopping Network." Something about HSN's slipping sales and massive overhead, whereas Diller's more lucrative properties are performing well, like Match.com's increasing membership signups.
But if there's one property Diller must absolutely hang on to, it's Evite.com. How else is Diane von Furstenberg going to have us RSVP to her trunk show?

