The Biography of Barry Diller: Career, Net Worth

Barry Diller is an award-winning American businessman. He is currently the chairman of IAC, and founder of the USA broadcasting company and Fox Broadcasting Corporation. 

Early Life and Education

Barry Diller was born on the 2nd of February, 1942 into a Jewish family in San Francisco, California, USA. His full name is Barry Charles Diller. His parents are  Reva (née Addison) and Michael Diller. He attended the University of California, Los Angeles, but dropped out in less than a year into his study. 

In 2001, Diller married Diane von Furstenberg, precisely 26 after they met. They are still together till date and have two kids: Alexander and Tatiana. Though the children are Diller's stepchildren, he sees them as his own.  Diller and his family reside in New York City.

Diller's wife Diane Von Furstenberg is a fashion designer and runs her fashion company. 

Career History 

 Barry's core business interest is the media industry. He has been in this business since 1964 and has received various credit and awards in the made-for-television movies. 

Diller began his career In 1961. During this period, he worked in a mailroom at the Williams Morris Agency, but gradually work himself up to the level of an agent.

In 1966, Diller started another work at ABC. He worked here for 8 years and eventually become the Vice President of Prime Time television. While he was working at ABC, he created the amazing ABC's "Movie of the Week."

In 1974, he became the chief executive and chairman of Paramount Pictures Corporation. He worked there for 10 years and produced various hit television programs like Laverne & Shirley (1976), Cheers (1982)

Diller started his career in Fox in 1984 and became the chief executive and chairman of the company within the space of 6 years. In 1986, he launched the Fox Television Network where he managed various TV shows including, The Simpsons and Married with Children.

In 1992, he became the chief executive of the QVC network. 

In 1995, He founded IAC (Internet And Conglomerate) and has been the executive director of the organization to date. IAC was formerly known as Silver King Communication. With the aid of many stakeholders in the online business, the range of IAC has expanded such that it controls and manages popular dating sites like the Match.com, OkCupid and Tinder.  Added to this, Diller is also the chairman of Expedia, the giant online travel site. The company acquired Liberty Expedia, its holding company in a $2.6 billion deal in 2019. 

Although the acquisition of the Expedia company ends Diller's formal relationship with the previous executive chairman of Liberty, John Malone, it gave him 28% of the voting power of the combined companies.

Before the acquisition, Malone was the chairman of Liberty Media Corps which controls and manages IAC through voting powers. Diller was the CEO of IAC and his asset covers everything from Citysearch, Ticketmaster, the Home Shopping Network, Ask.com, Match.com and so on.

Diller is currently the senior executive director of both IAC and Expedia, Inc. He is also the owner of one of the world largest yacht, Eos, and among the board of directors of the Coca Cola Company

In November 2014, Diller and the Diller-Von Furstenberg Family Foundation announced their intention to build Pier 55, which was nicknamed "Diller's Island." Pier 55 is a performance and park venue located at the Hudson River. However, on July 15, 2015,  a New York Civic Organisation filed a court document in order to hinder the further construction of the park. The Organization claimed that the project would have a negative effect on the city's waterfront. 

Andrew Cuomo, New York Governor assisted Diller in obtaining permission from the environment group to continue with the project. After this, on October 25, 2017, Diller announced his intention to continue with the project.

The Island is scheduled to open by 2021.

Net worth

On March 5, 2019, Diller was ranked number 545 on the  Forbes 2020 World Billionaire's list. His net worth was at $4B as of May 27, 2020.

According to the New York Times report on October 26, 2006, Diller emerged as the highest-paid executive of the fiscal year 2005.

Other Interests

Philanthropy

The Diller's family has always been known for their benevolence towards the betterment of their country. In 2011, the Diller-von Furstenberg Family Foundation donated $20 million to support the High Line Park Project in Manhattan. In the following year, the family donated $30 million to Hollywood Fund. This is to help in providing both social and health care to individuals who have retired from the show business. 

In 2015, the family donated a huge sum of $113 million for the construction of a floating park and performance venue on a pier in the Hudson River. This is the largest donation in the history of New York, especially donation for a public park. The park is scheduled to be launched in 2021. 

Diller is also a member of the democratic party and a critic of Donald Trump.

The Killer Dillers

This is simply a group of people mentored by Diller and are currently doing well in the media industry. These people include Michael Eisner, Dawn Steel, Dara Khosrowshahi, Garth Ancier, Jeffrey Katzenberg and many more. Michael is the President of Paramount Pictures while Diller was its Chairman and CEO. He later became the Chairman & CEO of The Walt Disney Company. Dawn is one of the first women to run a major movie studio and also the future head of Columbia Pictures. She worked under Diller in Paramount Pictures. Dara Khosrowshahi is the CEO of Uber. In Paramount Pictures, Jeffrey Katzenberg worked under Diller as the director of the production of Paramount. He manages and controls DreamWorks Animation and is a  principal of DreamWorks SKG. He was also the former head of Walt Disney Studios. Garth Ancier is the president of BBC America.