Barry Diller’s book ‘Who Knew’: The biggest revelations

Barry Diller has seen almost each evolution of the leisure enterprise.

He pioneered the “Film of the Week” at ABC, instituted the miniseries, embraced house video and propelled actuality TV with the inception of “Cops” at Fox.

Then, after years of operating main studios, Diller pivoted to QVC, latching onto the concept that screens might be two-way conversations with customers — this later led to his funding in on-line firms Expedia, Match.com and Tinder.

Diller, 83, expands on his life and profession choices in his new memoir, “Who Knew,” out Tuesday. In it, Diller comes out as gay, describes his longtime marriage with designer Diane von Furstenberg and particulars his many enterprise interactions through the years with fellow media titans, together with Rupert Murdoch, Michael Eisner (whom he mentored), Brian Roberts and Sumner Redstone.

Diller credit a “faux it till you make it” mentality for his profession, which started within the mailroom of expertise company William Morris. He then had a swift rise at ABC earlier than changing into the 32-year-old chief government and chairman of Paramount Photos, a task he held for 10 years earlier than leaping to Fox. Apart from a short-lived bid for Paramount Global final 12 months, he’s been comparatively absent from the leisure business since stepping down as chairman of Dwell Nation Leisure in 2010.

At the moment, he spends months crusing on his schooner, Eos, with Von Furstenberg and one in every of their cloned Jack Russell terriers (they’ve 5), whereas nonetheless serving as chairman of digital media firm IAC.

“Essentially the most of it was constructing, all the time constructing,” Diller writes of his profession. “And even higher than that was being fortunate sufficient to let a household construct me into one thing resembling an individual.”

Listed here are 4 takeaways from the memoir.

Childhood trauma

Diller grew up in Beverly Hills, the place his father’s development provide household enterprise benefited from Southern California’s post-World Battle II increase in housing. However his house life was chaotic.

“My mother and father separated usually and got here a day in need of divorce a number of occasions earlier than I used to be ten,” he writes. “My brother was a drug addict by age 13; and I used to be a sexually confused holder of secrets and techniques from the age of 11.”

There have been silent Sunday night time dinners at eating places and basically no contact with any prolonged family.

One notably traumatizing childhood expertise got here when Diller was despatched to sleepaway camp at age 7. He had attended that exact camp earlier than when he was 4 — just a few years beneath the minimal age requirement — however spent that summer season residing with the camp homeowners, “cozied into the construction of an actual household unit,” he writes. At 7, Diller was positioned with the remainder of the campers and stated he felt remoted and alone.

When he referred to as his mom, begging her to select him up, she advised him she’d come instantly. He waited all day and she or he by no means confirmed up.

“I gave up on my mom that night time. There can be no rescue,” he writes. “As I walked down that driveway again to the lifetime of the camp, I buried that concern and resolved by no means to belief anybody aside from myself once more. That summer season at camp, I cemented myself shut.”

A brash first assembly with Charles Bluhdorn

Bluhdorn, the top of huge conglomerate Gulf+Western Industries, bought Paramount Photos in 1966. Someday, Bluhdorn wished to barter with somebody from ABC’s programming division. Leonard Goldberg, who was head of programming on the time, was unavailable, so Diller, who labored for him, was despatched to fulfill Bluhdorn for the primary time.

The 2 clashed on a deal Bluhdorn had made with ABC to purchase greater than 100 Paramount films to air on tv, lots of which Diller stated had been duds. Diller, then 23, bluffed a “massive boy voice” and pushed again, leading to an amended deal for the rights of recent Paramount movies that had been higher than the outdated ones, touchdown “The Godfather” and “Love Story” for ABC.

It might be the start of Diller’s lengthy relationship with Bluhdorn, which led to him changing into chairman of Paramount.

“He appreciated me as a result of I used to be most likely the one particular person within the leisure enterprise, most likely in any enterprise at the moment in his ginormous profession, who didn’t inform him precisely what he wished to listen to,” Diller writes.

The rationale he left Fox

After seven years at Fox, Diller approached Murdoch to ask to change into a accomplice within the enterprise.

Diller writes that Murdoch stated he would give it some thought however got here again just a few days later and stated, “There’s actually just one principal on this firm. I imply, you make choices, and that’s been nice for me and for you. However this can be a household firm, and also you’re not a member.”

Their relationship slowly deteriorated after that, and Diller resigned as chairman and CEO in 1992. He writes that he has “not had a harsh phrase with Rupert since.”

He handed on Pixar

Within the early Nineties, Steve Jobs confirmed Diller just a few scenes from the film “Toy Story.” After the screening, he requested Diller to affix the board of Pixar, which Jobs had not too long ago acquired.

Diller, by his personal admission, “didn’t get any of the attraction of ‘Toy Story‘” and had by no means been excited about animation. He stated he didn’t wish to make any commitments within the aftermath of his departure from Fox earlier than finally giving Jobs a agency no.

“I fully underestimated the corporate and the person,” Diller writes. “What a dunce.”