SPLIT?!?!?! Photo: Newscom, Getty Images
Today is the last day in the Barry Diller–versus–John Malone divorce trial in Delaware, which will determine the future of IAC, the $5 billion company Diller built with the backing of his old pal Malone’s Liberty Media. On Monday, things seemed friendly enough between the two longtime buddies, with Malone telling the judge that most likely, he and Diller just had communication issues: “I don’t emote well,” he said, according to the Times. But things have devolved since then. Yesterday, Diller’s nemesis, a Liberty chief executive named Gregory Maffei, who worked for Diller on Expedia, took the stand, where he made mention of Diller’s “delicate psyche” and at one point became, according to the Post, “visibly hostile” about him:
“If you are a director who is not sympathetic to Mr. Diller’s interests, over time you will not be a director,” Maffei angrily exclaimed.
Hm, issues much?
Today Diller is expected to testify, which should be interesting, since he’s not exactly one to hold back — he previously called Malone “crazy” and yesterday, an e-mail he wrote to G.E. CEO Jack Welch, in which he said working with Malone was the “usual nightmare,” was revealed — and we’re looking forward to his diagnoses of his partners. It’s like In Treatment, only with lots of numbers and talk of “dual-class structures” in the middle.
Barry Makes Points [NYP]
Diller Malone Trial Enters Last Day [Portfolio]
Billionaire Rivals Often Spoke of Deals [NYT]
