The Wall Street Journal – After Tech Wreck, Barry Diller Could Deliver Buffett-Beating Returns
Nov 14, 2022
Story by Laura Forman (WSJ): Tech-weary investors might just find salvation in an octogenarian billionaire. No, not value investor Warren Buffett, who has in any case aged out of that cohort. Barry Diller has produced similarly impressive returns with a starkly different strategy—until recently, that is. “We have no competition with this business model,” Mr. Diller says. “Maybe because it’s crazy and maybe because it’s savvy.”
“History shows spinning off companies can be beneficial. In a 22-year study beginning January 2000, special situations research boutique The Edge Consulting Group showed spinoffs as an asset class generated three to four times the S&P 500’s returns on average over the first 12 months, concluding “the sum of the parts is greater than the whole.”