Barry Diller

The long-standing CEO and chairman of media company InterActiveCorp (IAC). IAC's network of websites has included Expedia, Hotels.com, Match.com, Ask.com, Ticketmaster Online, Citysearch, Lending Tree, Evite, Vimeo, Shoebuy.com and ServiceMagic.

Diller entered the media world when he joined ABC in 1966, where he worked his way up to vice president of prime-time TV in 1973. He helped ABC compete with other major networks by introducing ABC's Movie of the Week in 1969 with directors such as Aaron Spelling and Steven Spielberg. Made-for-TV movies became an industry practice because they were inexpensive and fast to produce.

Diller was born in 1942 in San Francisco, and did not graduate from college. He began his career in the mailroom at a Hollywood talent agency, the William Morris Agency, in 1961. Diller went on to become president of Paramount in 1974 and CEO and chairman of 20th Century Fox in 1984.

At Fox, he launched Fox Broadcasting Company to compete with ABC, CBS and NBC. The station aired hit shows such as COPS and The Simpsons. He left Fox in 1992 to become CEO of QVC Network, where he made an unsuccessful bid to take over Paramount. After leaving QVC, he became chairman and CEO of Silver King Communications in 1995, Home Shopping Network (HSN) in 1996, IAC in 1998 and Vivendi Universal Entertainment in 2002.