This is the first piece of a two-part deep dive on Barry Diller. Part II.
Why Diller? Yesterday, I heard a quote by Dan Zwirn: “the best value investors are as comfortable with securities as they are with operating companies.” I agree. Great businesspeople often straddle the worlds of investing and operating. They are capital allocators, leaders, and creators. Guided by a set of principles they defy the labels of the investor, the entrepreneur, the Chief Executive, the operator. They are multi-faceted and multi-dimensional: they express themselves and their craft in public and private markets, through control and minority stakes, by building, acquiring, and selling assets.
I found Barry Diller to be a great example of someone who married the operating and investing worlds. After rising to the top of Hollywood, he left to take a road trip to the future and built IAC, the “anti-conglomerate,” which acquires, incubates, operates, and spins off technology companies. He has been highly succe…