John Malone is what you would call a cock blocker, but he isn't necessarily blocking cocks

-MARTY It seems like every time a media company wants to make a move, they have to go through John Malone first. Rupert Murdoch had to throw him a bone to hold him off from attempting a takeover of News Corp, now Barry Diller, Chairman of Internet company Interactive Corp (IAC) will have to throw him a thick piece of stake to distract him so he can split IAC into five publicly traded companies. We will call him "The Media Sheriff" It looked like a master stroke. IAC Interactive (IACI) Chief Executive Barry Diller announced that his collection of Internet companies will be separated into five public companies. Diller, long a Wall Street darling, hopes to use the deal to restore some of the luster lost by his business in a year of sliding shares. The tactic appeared to be working. IAC's stock price jumped 7.5%. But the announcement is only the first step in what could be a messy, protracted battle with IAC's largest shareholder, John Malone's Liberty Media (LCAPA), owner of a 24.1% stake. Under the terms of a long-standing arrangement with Malone, Diller controls and votes Liberty Media's shares in any deal. Still, in order to see the breakup through to its fruition, Diller will probably need to offer some concessions to Malone, the Liberty chairman who has publicly suggested he wants out of the arrangement. In a recent Wall Street Journal article, Malone dissed Diller, saying, "There was time when there was, I think, a 20% Barry premium" on Wall Street. He added: "Today you could argue there is a Barry discount." The upshot is Malone and Diller will probably have some serious talks in coming weeks before Diller can finalize his plans, several sources say. We don't know but it seems as though John Malone may be the most powerful man in media. He had Rupert sweating bullets and now Barry Diller has to sweet talk him into letting him split up IAC? We have a list coming so lets see who comes out on top! IAC: Breaking Up May Be Hard to Do [BW]