Byzantine Legal Fight For Control Of Ask.com Parent IAC

Jan 29, 2008 at 9:58am ET by Greg Sterling

The Wall Street Journal covers the “open warfare” between IAC CEO Barry Diller and Liberty Media, one of its largest backers and investors. Liberty Chairman John Malone has grown increasingly frustrated with IAC’s financial and stock performance and Diller himself. Diller has control of the company through a Byzantine procedural agreement that allows him to vote Liberty Media’s shares by proxy. This week Liberty tried an equally arcane legal maneuver to circumvent the agreement and oust Diller.

The volume of the legal squabble is likely to increase as IAC reorganizes. It could also represent a big distraction for the highest level executives in the company from the core mission of running the business. Last month, Diller replaced Ask CEO Jim Lanzone with former Match.com CEO Jim Safka.

The intensifying legal battle for control of IAC clouds the outlook for the company until it’s resolved.

Greg Sterling is a Contributing Editor at Search Engine Land, and writes a personal blog Screenwerk, examining the broader world of media and advertising. He also posts at Internet2Go, which is focused on the mobile Internet.

See more articles by Greg Sterling >

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