How does someone with zero ambition rise to the top of Hollywood?

Barry Diller started out as a ‘wayward’ kid with no plan, then took his first big risk in television by producing original TV movies, a gamble no one in Hollywood thought would work.

In this episode, he shares how trusting his instincts and defying convention guided his journey from transforming Paramount to launching Fox Broadcasting Company and building IAC, now home to 10 publicly traded companies, leaving a lasting legacy.

We also get into:

• why adversity is the greatest training ground for instinct

• what it took to launch Fox Broadcasting against three dominant networks

• why sequels ruined Hollywood’s creative edge

• spotting screen interactivity before the internet took over

ABOUT US:

We’re proudly sponsored by Brex—a brand I co-founded, now supporting over 30,000 businesses like Anthropic, DoorDash, and Scale AI, helping them make every dollar count.

I’m grateful for their continued support as I bring you all conversations with some of the most exceptional founders of our generation. For more information, please go to: https://www.brex.com/?ref_code=bmk_audio_HDinHD

Connect with us here:

1. Brex- https://x.com/brexHQ

2. Henrique Dubugras- https://x.com/hdubugras

This episode was produced and distributed by our friends at Atomik Growth.

00:00 Intro

02:12 Barry Diller's Early Life

15:12 The ABC Network

25:30 Charles Bluhdorn

33:26 From TV to Paramount

42:34 Fox Broadcasting and Media Ventures

48:53 E-Commerce and Building IAC

59:07 Expedia