Has Barry Diller been faking it all along?

“He has a vision, and he’s not quite sure what it is, you know. And then he kind of fakes it until he makes it.” -Diane von Furstenberg, Barry Diller’s wife and IAC board member By SDH The battle is in full swing between IAC/Interactive Corp CEO Barry Diller and majority shareholder John Malone. The latest back and forth may have tipped in Diller's favor, but things from the past may come back to bite him where the sun doesn't shine. Diller's fashion designer wife and IAC board member,” Diane von Furstenberg during a "60 Minutes" interview sort of painted her husband as a winger and/or a pretender by saying he “Fakes it till he makes it". Statements like these can probably serve up a huge blow to Diller who is fighting for dear life to hold on to the maze of companies known as IAC/Interactive Corp. So has Barry been faking it? According to many analysts he isn’t an effective CEO. Diller’s decision to split up the company in 5 stand alone companies is seen by some as the result of something that was built up so fast, it got out of hand. One of Diller’s biggest acquisitions Ask.com which originally had delusional episodes of taking on search giant Google, recently announced that it is changing its focus from Google and will transform itself into a search engine locked in on married Southern and Mid Western women. Is this the result of another fake it till you make it approach that failed? The coming weeks will decide Barry Diller’s legacy. Will he be remembered as a builder of businesses for other media CEOs or will he be remembered as that, and a builder and ruler of his own empire? If John Malone wins, he (Barry Diller) will be remembered as the man who built a major internet company only to find out he wasn’t the boss all along.

Even Barry Diller thinks he may be out of a job in the coming weeks

BY SDH Barry Diller can't seem to catch a break at all. Ever since the man has been in the media and entertainment business he has worked for someone. When he set up his internet holding company first as USA Interactive and then later on as IAC/Interactive Corp, we all thought this was finally Barry's turn to be the boss. But as it turns out, Diller was really never the boss at IAC. The real boss was and is John Malone who is in the middle of shaking up IAC until Barry Diller falls out. It all started when Diller said he was going to split the company into 5, which Malone said will cut his power drastically. So now Malone is trying to get back his super voting shares from Diller and its looking like he will prevail. Even Barry Diller feels it. During a recent panel hosted by Zelnick Media and Variety, Diller had a defeated tone when asked about the battle between him and John Malone. But Diller shouldn’t worry because he has to remember that he may have the track record of always being pushed out of companies he built, but he also has a track record of making comebacks. If Diller does indeed get the boot from atop IAC he can take a page out of former Disney CEO Mike Eisner's book and slowly build a small online media company with content that can be spun into other areas. Or he can join forces with Eisner and target start-ups. But maybe Malone is a nice guy and will let him take one of IAC’s businesses.

Barry Diller's legacy in shambles?

-SDH Poor Barry Diller, the man only wants to be his own boss and call his own shots and be his own enemy, but as far back as even Barry can remember he has never been any of the above. In a New York Post article this morning, Barry Diller is said to have a chip on his shoulder about his legacy, can you blame him? Since his start in the media business, Barry Diller has been an underling who had to answer to someone. It is due to this fact that he never stuck around at any of the companies he helped build into the powerhouses they are today. He worked for the who is who in media like Rupert Murdoch, Brian Roberts and Marvin Davis. Will poor Barry lose yet another battle and see his dreams of being his own boss, running his own company, go down the drain for good? If John Malone, IAC/Interactive's big dog shareholder has his way, Barry's Legacy will probably be about his fight to leave a respectable legacy. "This is essentially a redux version of most of Barry's career," said a source close to both men. "Just when he thinks he's reached a place where he can gain control all for himself, someone comes along to remind him that regardless of how far he drives the car, it's still Daddy's car to begin with." CHILLER DILLER [NYP]

Operation Regime Change

BY SDH Barry Diller built IAC Interactive Corp via acquisitions of profitable web properties bringing them under one roof to form his internet holding company which is home to well know web destinations like, Expedia.com, Match.com and more recently collegehumor.com. But if you ask us, Diller may have just been put on notice by Liberty Media boss John Malone who holds a reported 30% stake. During an interview late last year, Malone said that he no longer thinks Diller brings value to the company. Now Malone is acting on this statement by trying to kill the Diller era. In a bold but expected move, Malone asked a court for the go ahead to force Diller out, and perhaps hand the CEO title to a younger more energetic fresh thinker from within or outside the company who will perhaps bring that value Malone claims Diller lacks? Diller has to be feeling the Neuse tightening around his neck. Clearly Malone and company are congregating on IAC’s borders for a full scale attack with the objective of regime change at IAC. But will Malone’s potential invasion be unilateral or will he bring others on board? Malone is not known for raiding corporations and forcing change like the Suge Knight of corporate America Carl Icahn. But he carries more weight than many of the CEOs of the companies he holds shares in. When Malone upped his stake in IAC, Liberty Media claimed at the time, they upped their stake in IAC to take advantage of IAC’s low stock price. But only an idiot would buy that. If Barry Diller were to look out his office window through binoculars, he will see Malone and his troops looking right back at him through their binoculars just waiting for the right time to take the kill shot. Rupert Murdoch came out alive from a possible Malone attack, will the same happen for Diller?

sumner redstone will probably die an isolated and miserable old man, and phil dauman will be the only one at his funeral

At his age you would think the old fart that is Sumner Redstone would be humble, warm and grandfather like. Nope. It seems like the older he gets, the meaner and more insecure he gets. He rules Viacom and CBS from his mansion in the hills of Hollywood and he creates tension between himself and the people who work for him. Current Viacom CEO Phillippe Dauman must be the only person Sumner doesn't fight with. Then again when you're a yes man you tend to be in line right with the boss. Well it looks like a new war is brewing but this time Dreamworks founder David Geffen is firing the first shot in the new issue of Vanity Fair. -SHINESY "Nobody is going to treat me or my partner [Spielberg] in that manner and stay in business with us. Nobody." geffen goes on to call DreamWorks sale to paramount "a poor choice" and accuses Redstone of "bullying. And I will not be bullied. There is no fight I will run from. I am absolutely unafraid of Sumner Redstone." Geffen continues: "These people are a nightmare. I've never seen behavior like this in my entire life." Showdown at Fort Sumner [VF]

Media Beef: Olberman VS. Rivera

IN usual Geraldo Rivera madness, the Saddam mustached thrill seeker has challenged MSNBC's Keith Olberman to a round or two in the ring. But will the pussy come out in Olberman or will he talk his way out of facing Rivera in the ring. You know, this could be great press for both men. "I would make a pizza out of him." Olbermann countered on his MSNBC show that the "midget" remark confused him since, "I'm about 7 inches taller than he is." And of Rivera's challenge, Olbermann, 47, said: "Geraldo, you should not give me a hard time. I can still remember when you were a big deal . . . back when I was a kid." Hey Keith, don't talk about it, be about it. RIVERA: I'LL BEAT KEITH TO PIZZA [NYP]