Barry Diller Stepping Down As IAC CEO

Barry Diller, the CEO of IAC who played a significant role in the Daily Beast / Newsweek merger, is stepping down. He will remain with the company as chairman, with Greg Blatt, the former CEO of IAC-owned Match.com, will take over a CEO of IAC.

Furthermore, Liberty Media has sold its entire stake — and, thus, its 60 percent voting control — in the company. In exchange, Liberty Media will receive IAC’s Evite and Gifts.com and $220 million in cash.

Diller said that his company requires a “full-time aggressive and aspirational executive” at its helm. He now owns 34 percent of IAC’s voting shares, with an option to own an additional seven percent in the future.

The NY Observer notes that handling major shifts at companies is Blatt’s strong point, pointing to his role as Martha Stewart’s lawyer at the time her company went public.

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