Arango on Diller exit

A DILLER OF AN EXIT: N.Y. Times media reporter Tim Arango offered a characteristically intriguing take on Barry Diller’s exit as the Chairman of the Board at Live Nation Entertainment (see 9/29 items). “The company announced the departure in an unorthodox fashion,” Arango wrote. “Instead of immediately issuing a statement, the company’s executive chairman, Irving Azoff, posted the news via Twitter on Wednesday morning… According to one person involved in the process who was not authorized to speak publicly, however, some board members had already decided that they would seek to remove Diller as chairman if he did not choose to step down. This person said Diller had pushed for certain moves that company management had resisted—including seeking to switch the company’s stock listing to Nasdaq from the NYSE, and replacing the company’s chief financial officer.” A story in DailyFinance reported that the latter effort “was nixed by the CFO's allies on the board, who later became leery of Diller, and viewed some of his actions as moves to seize control of the company.” Interestingly, neither story mentions the executive by name. LNE’s CFO is Kathy Willard. (9/30a)