Interactive Corp

Not so very long ago, when media moguls stalked the Earth in all their arrogant glory, Barry Diller was among the biggest of the big. He occupied that top echelon of giants known by their first names, like Sumner (Redstone), Rupert (Murdoch), and Cher. But Diller had something they lacked -- a reputation for intellectual depth. He seemed to understand better than his fellow moguls the havoc that digital technology would wreak on their Hollywood sandboxes. Despite his roots in conventional media -- he has at times been chief of Paramount Pictures, head of prime-time TV at ABC, chairman of Fox, and CEO of Vivendi Universal -- he saw that once customers could get their entertainment from the Internet and interact with the TV set, a whole new world of opportunities, and risks, would open up. But as the typically tepid results turned in recently by his IAC/InterActiveCorp demonstrate, he still hasn't figured out how to squeeze riches for shareholders from his vision.

Liberty Media Corp.'s John Malone, a longtime business partner of Barry Diller, moved Monday to oust Diller from the board of the IAC/InterActiveCorp Internet conglomerate. The move was the latest in dueling lawsuits the two sides filed in Delaware courts after IAC said it planned to break itself into five separate companies. Liberty says that would rob the media holding company of its shareholder voting power.

A Delaware judge Friday set a trial in March for Liberty Media Corp.'s billionaire Chairman John Malone to face off with IAC/InterActiveCorp Chairman Barry Diller in a battle to control the entertainment company. Chancery Court Judge Stephen Lamb consolidated lawsuits filed over IAC's plans to split into five companies and set a timetable for trial. He postponed ruling on Liberty's request to bar the spinoffs until the suits were resolved.

Barry Diller's media conglomerate, IAC/InterActiveCorp, which includes Home Shopping Network, Ticketmaster and CitySearch, said Tuesday that hefty charges had pushed down profit by 85% in the fourth quarter but revenue rose in each of its divisions. Net income after paying preferred dividends dropped to $16.7 million, or 5 cents a share, in the three months that ended Dec. 31 from $113.1 million, or 33 cents, a year earlier.

Media mogul Barry Diller said Friday that his Internet conglomerate, IAC/InterActiveCorp, would invest $100 million to expand in China by creating services designed for local users. Diller also said IAC would launch its Ask.com search engine in China within two years. IAC is looking for opportunities to develop or buy businesses geared to Chinese users, added Diller, IAC's chairman and chief executive. New York-based IAC's 30 Web brands include dating site Match.

Internet conglomerate IAC/InterActiveCorp swung to a profit in the fourth quarter as acquisitions and strong growth at Ticketmaster and LendingTree boosted results. IAC, which also owns the HSN home-shopping network, Citysearch and recently acquired Ask Jeeves, said its online services group drove the quarter's growth with a 46% gain in revenue during the quarter. IAC earned $113.1 million, or 33 cents a share, improving from the 2004 quarter's loss of $45.9 million, or 13 cents.

Entertainment mogul Barry Diller, who is the chairman and chief executive of IAC/InterActiveCorp and chairman of Expedia Inc., realized a combined $464 million from exercising stock options of both companies last year.

IAC/InterActiveCorp, the Internet and media company run by Barry Diller, said Tuesday that first-quarter profit fell 32% because of a sales decline at cable shopping network HSN and the spinoff of Expedia Inc. Net income at the owner of LendingTree.com and Ticketmaster fell to $47.2 million, or 14 cents a share, from $68.9 million, or 19 cents, a year earlier. Revenue rose 36% to $1.55 billion with the purchase of Cornerstone Brands Inc. and Ask.com, New York-based IAC said.

IAC/InterActiveCorp said it swung to a second-quarter loss, hurt by a $300-million write-down in a catalog business, but excluding that and other charges its earnings beat analysts' estimates. Barry Diller's Internet conglomerate reported a loss of $421.6 million, or $1.51 a share. In the year-earlier quarter IAC had a profit of $94.6 million, or 31 cents, according to restated results. On an adjusted basis, New York-based IAC reported earnings of 35 cents a share -- better than the 31 cents expected by analysts polled by Thomson Financial.

Barry Diller's IAC/InterActiveCorp, owner of Expedia and the HSN home-shopping network, posted a fourth-quarter loss of $42.6 million after writing down the value of some assets. Revenue from the company's travel businesses fell short of analysts' expectations. The net loss of 7 cents a share contrasted with net income of $156 million, or 20 cents a share, a year earlier, the New York-based company said. Sales fell 4.9% to $1.72 billion because of a change in accounting for Hotels.com revenue.