Barry Diller Reveals Layoffs, C-Suite Shake Up and Name Change for IAC

Barry Diller Slaven Vlasic/Getty Images for Perelman Performing Arts Center Share on Facebook Share on X Google Preferred Share to Flipboard Show additional share options Share on LinkedIn Share on Pinterest Share on Reddit Share on Tumblr Share on Whats App Send an Email Print the Article Post a Comment Barry Diller is shaking up his company IAC, rebranding the company as People Incorporated as it undergoes a significant shift in strategy. Diller will shift to a role as executive chairman in the move, with Neil Vogel set to become the company’s new CEO and Tim Quinn CFO. Diller outlined the changes in a note to IAC shareholders Tuesday, noting that going forward the holding company will focus on its MGM holdings and the People publishing business. “We’re transitioning the necessary staff of IAC into the corpus of People,” Diller wrote. “That will significantly reduce our overhead as we concentrate on our two assets: People publishing and our holdings in MGM Resorts. “As for me, I plan to continue to do what I have done here for years as Chairman and Senior Executive—be an advisor, instigator, stimulus, and sometimes irritant to the process,” he added. “I will also continue to oversee our MGM investment.” The changes will mean staff reductions. In an SEC filing the company said that it expects to incur about $14 million in severance and related expenses, $48 million in non-cash stock-based compensation expense and as much as $1 million in other costs related to the plan. The company expects to see annual run rate savings of around $40 million when the integration is complete. Diller founded IAC 30 years ago as a holding company for various media and media-adjacent businesses, initially riding the pay-TV wave before shifting its focus to the internet. Now, in a twist, the holding company will embrace the name of a print magazine in its next move. Diller noted that every time he has reinvented IAC, he has downsized so that it can move quickly to make deals. This time will be no differemt: “We have an excellent balance sheet with plenty of cash to pursue opportunities,” he wrote. “It’s possible we’ll find new arenas, that’s always an option, but for now we’ll concentrate on the two we have in front of us.” IAC’s brands include the People publishing business, which owns People, Food & Wine, Real Simple and Travel & Leisure, among other brands. It also owns The Daily Beast, Ask Media Group, and Vivian Health. You can read Diller’s note, below. Dear Shareholders, Today’s news is that IAC is changing its corporate name to People Incorporated. Throughout its three decades, this company has always been opportunistic. That’s the only guidewire I’ve ever followed, and I believe today and tomorrow’s opportunities will best be held in the corpus of this new corporate name. Some backgrounding will be helpful in explaining why. I bought into little Silver King Communications in 1995. It had about $40 million in sales, and as it evolved over the next decades, we became HSN, then USA Networks, and finally, in 2003, IAC/InterActiveCorp, and then even more simply, IAC Inc. Those name changes were the result of our changing business model. We began as a string of small television stations, then merged with HSN, a home shopping channel, and a few years later bought the USA Networks and Universal Television. At HSN, we gained some expertise in ecommerce and interactive models in the primitive convergence of television screens, computers, and phones. And…

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