There’s a lot of merit in being a part of a massive company, with so-called endless resources.  But, independence in one helluv’an ace to cherish when you are not a part of a big firm. 

I saw InterActive Corp. CEO Barry Diller on CBS last night.  I’ve been giving this a lot of thought recently: whether the conglomerate is dead.  I wrote something on What would NBC be worth if spun out of GE?  I also wrote something on IAC’s own Ask.com being worth $3.15B after it sold for $1.85B in 2005. 

Anyway, here’s what Diller had to say on CBS:

“We are an interactive conglomerate and we’re proud of being a conglomerate, which is we operate in financial services and flirt services with Match.com, so you know, we run the gamut.”

I want to agree with Diller, he has an unbelievable track record.  But I’m not sure for two reasons:

- Didn’t Diller spin off Expedia so it can be a pure-play travel site and unleash shareholder value?  If that tenet applies to Expedia and travel, why would it not apply to flirt and financial services as well?

- When asked why Google was sexy and worth $150B, yet IAC worth $10B and lacking the brand equity and awareness of a Google, he said “Google is sexy.”  Sexiness notwithstanding, if that implies an unleashing of value… does that also add to it?

I think Diller is infatuated and enthralled with the power of having his fingers in everything.  I don’t blame him.  But it’s a very so-called old media thing.  

I became a shareholder of IAC when Mr. Diller bought Ask.com, and I eventually unloaded shares when the shares appreciated handsomely in 2006.

Will I buy in again?  I don’t know.  But you can’t count the man out.  IAC is on my watch list.

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