WEBVTT - Barry Diller

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<v Speaker 1>Over his long career, Barry Diller is founded and led

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<v Speaker 1>some of the most influential media companies in America, creating

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<v Speaker 1>the Fox Broadcasting Company, running Paramount Pictures, and more recently

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<v Speaker 1>leading Interactive Corps as it grows into a multibillion dollar

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<v Speaker 1>internet company. But when Diller dropped out of u c

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<v Speaker 1>l A just after one semester, his future success was

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<v Speaker 1>far from secure. As he went to work in the

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<v Speaker 1>mail room at the William Morris Talent Agency. Diller was

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<v Speaker 1>soon hired as an assistant to Helton Rule, who became

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<v Speaker 1>president of ABC and promoted Diller device president of Development,

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<v Speaker 1>setting him on a path to success in the media industry.

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<v Speaker 1>Diller recently sat down with Carlisle Group co founder David Rubinstein.

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<v Speaker 1>They spoke on David Rubinstein's Bloomberg television program Peer to

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<v Speaker 1>Peer Conversations. So, Barry, you have had a very unusual career.

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<v Speaker 1>Let me try to explain this. Many people, Okay, so

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<v Speaker 1>many people have built media companies and then sometimes they've

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<v Speaker 1>run them. And a few other people have built um

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<v Speaker 1>internet companies and sometimes they run them. What was it

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<v Speaker 1>about your abilities you think to be able to do both?

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<v Speaker 1>I think probably it's probably like a couple of things.

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<v Speaker 1>I mean, one is curiosity. I probably a more curious

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<v Speaker 1>than those people who have been on one side or

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<v Speaker 1>the other. I'm let me say I'm sloppily curious on

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<v Speaker 1>the And the other thing is it's about editorship. I

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<v Speaker 1>mean I think that certainly in media businesses, which is

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<v Speaker 1>where you are choosing from, I'll do this or I

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<v Speaker 1>won't do that. True editorship. You did very well in television,

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<v Speaker 1>very well in movies. How did you gravitate towards the Internet? Well,

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<v Speaker 1>it started because I, first of all, I don't really

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<v Speaker 1>like repeating myself. I've been in the movie and television

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<v Speaker 1>business for twenty years, kind of running multiple like movie

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<v Speaker 1>and television operations, and when I left, First of all,

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<v Speaker 1>my biggest issue was I didn't want to work for

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<v Speaker 1>anyone anymore because I'd been a corporatis, I'd always worked

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<v Speaker 1>for a company, and I got to a point when

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<v Speaker 1>I was forty nine when I said, I really, you

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<v Speaker 1>either kind of are or you're not, and I want

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<v Speaker 1>to be not having anyone, so to speak, thumb on

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<v Speaker 1>my neck. Also, I wanted to see if I could

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<v Speaker 1>create something that was really my own. Another way of

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<v Speaker 1>saying this at least the way I would maybe say,

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<v Speaker 1>and maybe I had the same view myself. If they

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<v Speaker 1>could do this, why can't I do that? And you

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<v Speaker 1>didn't have that, you know, I mean because I really

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<v Speaker 1>I never really I've always kind of acted out of

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<v Speaker 1>more insecurity than security. And I probably didn't think that

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<v Speaker 1>the people. I mean, I thought a lot of the

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<v Speaker 1>people I worked for were idiots, But in the main

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<v Speaker 1>I certainly didn't think that. In fact, oh I could

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<v Speaker 1>do that. The question for me was could I do that.

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<v Speaker 1>Let's go back through how are your career unfolded before

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<v Speaker 1>we go to what you're doing today. So you grew

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<v Speaker 1>up in Beverly Hills and you went to college initially

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<v Speaker 1>at U c l A. You know, it's a bit

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<v Speaker 1>of a fake out, and I've never absolutely clarified it.

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<v Speaker 1>I mean, it's it that I went to u c

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<v Speaker 1>l A for about three weeks, um three weeks. What

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<v Speaker 1>did your parents say when you dropped out? Nothing more

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<v Speaker 1>than they said before it, after it, or during. My

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<v Speaker 1>parents were the most laise fair of parents, and they

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<v Speaker 1>did not really have a point of view other than

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<v Speaker 1>they probably assumed that they just support me for the

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<v Speaker 1>rest of my life. So we're your parents wealthy fairly Yeah,

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<v Speaker 1>so what did you do? Hibernated for a while. I

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<v Speaker 1>knew where my interest was pulling me. My interest was

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<v Speaker 1>pulling me into entertainment. I'd always been fascinated by it.

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<v Speaker 1>That was obviously a lot around me. My parents, my

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<v Speaker 1>best friends and their parents were most sleep in various

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<v Speaker 1>forms of the entertainment business. So it was it was

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<v Speaker 1>the allure. But I had no clue how to get there.

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<v Speaker 1>I mean, there's no starting jobs. So I called my

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<v Speaker 1>best friend's father, Danny Thomas, who was a famous comedian

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<v Speaker 1>of the time on television Star and I so I

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<v Speaker 1>started William Morris in the mail room. What do you

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<v Speaker 1>actually do in the mail room? Because I never could

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<v Speaker 1>figure out how you can be in the mail room

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<v Speaker 1>and then you wind up being a CEO. I didn't

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<v Speaker 1>do what most people do in the mail room. What

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<v Speaker 1>most people do in the mail room is they really

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<v Speaker 1>they want to make contacts, They want to network with people,

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<v Speaker 1>they want to meet people, and through that networking, if

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<v Speaker 1>they impress people, they'll probably get a job or Usually

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<v Speaker 1>people in the mail room wanted to be agents. The

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<v Speaker 1>last thing in the world I ever wanted to do

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<v Speaker 1>was be an agent. I read the file room of

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<v Speaker 1>William Morris for almost three years and essentially the history

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<v Speaker 1>of the entertainment business from A to Z, and that

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<v Speaker 1>was that was my school. And then how do you

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<v Speaker 1>break out of the mail room to get into a

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<v Speaker 1>real job. So what happened serendipity. Most of my career

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<v Speaker 1>is some cross between serendipity and curiosity. Anyway, I had

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<v Speaker 1>met a middle level executive at ABC named Leonard Goldberg.

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<v Speaker 1>He was a New York executive moving to Los Angeles

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<v Speaker 1>to become the vice president of Current Programming, a kind

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<v Speaker 1>of like very middle level job. But I thought he

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<v Speaker 1>was really smart and I I didn't really have some

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<v Speaker 1>yen for television particularly, but you know, I was sparky

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<v Speaker 1>and I was interested. I knew I couldn't stay at

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<v Speaker 1>William Morris any longer, so he asked me to be

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<v Speaker 1>his assistant. I said yes. The day that I left

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<v Speaker 1>William Morris and was going to start at ABC, they

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<v Speaker 1>fired the TSAR of ABC Programming and they reached down

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<v Speaker 1>and they picked my guy, Leonard Goldberg, to be head

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<v Speaker 1>of programming. So I went from this little tiny thing

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<v Speaker 1>to moving to New York to becoming the assistant to

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<v Speaker 1>the head of programming at ABC, and within six months

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<v Speaker 1>I was kind of okay running the program department on

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<v Speaker 1>your way, and eventually you became the president of ABC Television.

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<v Speaker 1>Right well, the entertainment part, entertainment part, and you invented

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<v Speaker 1>something that was novel at the time, called the Movie

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<v Speaker 1>of the Week. We had the idea of saying, well,

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<v Speaker 1>rather than buying mostly bad movies and putting on continually

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<v Speaker 1>intelligence series that tend to fail, why don't we see

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<v Speaker 1>if we could make a movie every week, And we

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<v Speaker 1>chose this ninety minute form rather than two hours, and

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<v Speaker 1>so we we It was very ambitious because it hadn't

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<v Speaker 1>been done before, and everybody thought they would fail because

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<v Speaker 1>that was not the diet of television at the time.

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<v Speaker 1>And as most things, you know what everybody thinks it's

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<v Speaker 1>going to fail, it worked. It worked. So you're doing

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<v Speaker 1>very well. And you're in your mid thirties. If that no,

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<v Speaker 1>I'm thirty. I was just thirty two, a right, thirty two,

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<v Speaker 1>but you're pretending you're thirty three or something, or thirty

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<v Speaker 1>four is you're you know, if you want to exaggerate

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<v Speaker 1>how old because you're so young, right, No, I love

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<v Speaker 1>being young. I hate being now, you know the ideas.

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<v Speaker 1>Now I've gone from the youngest person in the room

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<v Speaker 1>to the oldest person, and I know this pheno a

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<v Speaker 1>bad transition. I mean, I know it. Yeah, I know. Anyway,

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<v Speaker 1>I was thirty two, all right, So you're thirty two

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<v Speaker 1>years old and you're getting a lot of attention. So

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<v Speaker 1>then I guess somebody called you up and said, would

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<v Speaker 1>you like to run Paramount Pictures? Is that how it happened?

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<v Speaker 1>Charlie Bluedorn, who had gotten to know very early, like

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<v Speaker 1>when I was like a year or two at ABC,

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<v Speaker 1>he had just bought Paramount. At the time, Paramount had

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<v Speaker 1>been failing, which is how why he and how he

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<v Speaker 1>bought it. And he wanted to sell these movies to television,

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<v Speaker 1>old movies from Paramounts library, all of which were terrible,

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<v Speaker 1>and I gave him a very hard time. He liked that.

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<v Speaker 1>We got began a relationship, and some years later he

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<v Speaker 1>kept off wanting me to come to Paramount, and I

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<v Speaker 1>didn't want to go. I really didn't want to leave

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<v Speaker 1>ABC particularly, But finally he said, all right, I'm gonna

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<v Speaker 1>make you chairman and chief executive of Paramount. I said, Charlie,

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<v Speaker 1>I have no experience in the movie business. Yes, we've

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<v Speaker 1>made seventy five movies for television, but are you you

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<v Speaker 1>really want to make me chief executive? He said yes,

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<v Speaker 1>and I said, actually, kind of reluctantly, I went to

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<v Speaker 1>Leonard Goldensons, the founder of ABC, and I told him.

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<v Speaker 1>I said, I told him about this, and he said, well,

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<v Speaker 1>you have to go. And I said really, and it's true.

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<v Speaker 1>I know it sounds quite crackers, but that is what happened. Now,

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<v Speaker 1>when you're running Paramount, you produced some of the most

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<v Speaker 1>famous movies in American history. First, we failed because actually

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<v Speaker 1>believe that in order to figure stuff out, you're going

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<v Speaker 1>to make a mess. So what did you make a

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<v Speaker 1>mess up? We made a series of awful movies. But

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<v Speaker 1>I was learning the movie business. We were in last place,

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<v Speaker 1>and I was kind of on fumes at that time

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<v Speaker 1>and saying to Charlie, you know, maybe this hasn't worked out.

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<v Speaker 1>But we were in that two years we were laying

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<v Speaker 1>really good development tracks for the future. So when it turned,

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<v Speaker 1>which it did in the third year of Paramount, when

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<v Speaker 1>we went literally from six to first place, Uh, it

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<v Speaker 1>was a big big dramatic terms. Some of the ones

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<v Speaker 1>that I remember were very big hits. Raiders of the

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<v Speaker 1>Lost Arc. Did you know that was going to be

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<v Speaker 1>great from the beginning? Yeah, okay, that doesn't It's rare

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<v Speaker 1>that you really know from the beginning. But when if

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<v Speaker 1>you if you read, do you remember seeing Red as

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<v Speaker 1>a lost ars? Okay, so you remember the opening scene

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<v Speaker 1>when he goes to the tomb and then the big

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<v Speaker 1>ball that Okay, that was about twelve pages of the script.

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<v Speaker 1>By the way, I finished that twelve page the script

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<v Speaker 1>saying if we can shoot this, this is going to

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<v Speaker 1>be fantastic. Of course it will cost more than any

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<v Speaker 1>movie ever made because of whatever whatever. But that script rarely,

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<v Speaker 1>I mean, it's happened ten times. Maybe when you finished

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<v Speaker 1>that script you said smash. But you also did television production,

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<v Speaker 1>and as I remember, you had cheers. Is that one

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<v Speaker 1>of yours? Cheers? And shoppy days, Happy days, la Vernon Shirley.

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<v Speaker 1>You're doing great job. People are telling you're great. And

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<v Speaker 1>then all of a sudden you left Paramount to run

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<v Speaker 1>twenty century Fox, and Rupert Murdoch came in. And at

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<v Speaker 1>the same time, I'd always been interested in the idea

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<v Speaker 1>of a fourth network, and so uh again. Serendipitously, John

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<v Speaker 1>Clue owned a group of television stations called Metromedia, and

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<v Speaker 1>he was passing through Los Angeles and I said, uh,

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<v Speaker 1>to Rupert, why don't we buy his television stations and

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<v Speaker 1>start a fourth network? And Rupert the greatest player, gambler,

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<v Speaker 1>but on strong instinct with nothing to back it up,

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<v Speaker 1>but thinking this was a good idea, I said yes.

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<v Speaker 1>I said yes. I said they're going to cost a billion,

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<v Speaker 1>two million dollars. He said that's okay, And not more

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<v Speaker 1>than an hour later we shook hands with John Klugey

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<v Speaker 1>and buying his television stations. So you haven't have that.

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<v Speaker 1>You're building the fourth network. And you did, and people

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<v Speaker 1>thought you were crazy. You did it the best position

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<v Speaker 1>it is for people to think you're crazy. So that's

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<v Speaker 1>the great good luck. And then you decide to leave. Yes,

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<v Speaker 1>what I got to the point and I said, you know,

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<v Speaker 1>I've certainly been successful. Uh, but none of this is mine,

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<v Speaker 1>and I mean, and nothing is ever yours. But it wasn't.

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<v Speaker 1>It was. And I went to Rupert and I said,

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<v Speaker 1>I want to be a principal, and Rupert could be

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<v Speaker 1>the greatest good service. He said, there's only one principle

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<v Speaker 1>in this company. It's so very nice that you want

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<v Speaker 1>to be, but that's reality. And I went away thinking,

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<v Speaker 1>oh my god, what a terrible thing, what a terrible

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<v Speaker 1>harsh thing to be told. Now I have to actually

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<v Speaker 1>either decide that I'm going to act on it or not.

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<v Speaker 1>So I left. You've been successful everything you've touched. Now

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<v Speaker 1>you have to start your own business. You don't know which.

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<v Speaker 1>I've been unsuccessful at each step of the way. It

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<v Speaker 1>started off very un In the end, each one worked,

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<v Speaker 1>they worked out. So you decide you're going to change

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<v Speaker 1>your life, become a principal. But your problem is you

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<v Speaker 1>don't know what you want to be a principle. Of

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<v Speaker 1>the things that people wanted me to do, of course,

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<v Speaker 1>was to run a movie company, take a job chief

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<v Speaker 1>executive job in this part of the entertain and that

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<v Speaker 1>part of the and all of that stuff I had

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<v Speaker 1>really no interest in. So you started to buy, um,

0:13:11.600 --> 0:13:14.720
<v Speaker 1>some things. My wife had gone to a place called QVC.

0:13:15.160 --> 0:13:18.000
<v Speaker 1>Your wife's Diane on first heard, and she's a designer,

0:13:18.400 --> 0:13:22.000
<v Speaker 1>and she went to QVC on the because they had

0:13:22.080 --> 0:13:25.360
<v Speaker 1>wanted her to sell close on QVC and she said,

0:13:25.360 --> 0:13:26.720
<v Speaker 1>you have to go and see what this thing is.

0:13:26.760 --> 0:13:31.000
<v Speaker 1>It's the most amazing thing. So I go there Westchester, Pennsylvania,

0:13:31.400 --> 0:13:34.120
<v Speaker 1>and I see in a you know, ten ft square

0:13:34.920 --> 0:13:42.040
<v Speaker 1>uh hundred ft square stage, the use of computers and

0:13:42.160 --> 0:13:48.160
<v Speaker 1>television sets and telephones, and me, who only knew about

0:13:48.679 --> 0:13:52.440
<v Speaker 1>screens being used for narrative, I saw screens being used

0:13:52.480 --> 0:13:55.559
<v Speaker 1>for something else. There were it was interactive. There was

0:13:55.600 --> 0:13:59.319
<v Speaker 1>a computer screen that when they offered a product, you

0:13:59.360 --> 0:14:02.800
<v Speaker 1>would see the calls would be on this computer screen,

0:14:03.400 --> 0:14:05.600
<v Speaker 1>seeing them rise and fall and rise and fall and

0:14:05.679 --> 0:14:08.880
<v Speaker 1>rise and fall. And the whole thing was this very

0:14:08.960 --> 0:14:14.520
<v Speaker 1>early kind of convergence. And again, my only thing about

0:14:14.559 --> 0:14:18.000
<v Speaker 1>screens was storytelling, and here was another use of a screen,

0:14:18.760 --> 0:14:22.400
<v Speaker 1>and it intrigued me. And then again serendipity. I'm having

0:14:22.440 --> 0:14:25.760
<v Speaker 1>lunch with Ralph and Brian Roberts, who own Comcast Home

0:14:25.880 --> 0:14:28.680
<v Speaker 1>Comcast which owned and they wanted me to do a

0:14:28.680 --> 0:14:30.920
<v Speaker 1>production company. And I was still bored with this lunch.

0:14:30.960 --> 0:14:32.400
<v Speaker 1>I thought, when is it gonna be over? I can

0:14:32.440 --> 0:14:35.200
<v Speaker 1>go home, And as you do in those kinds of situations,

0:14:35.280 --> 0:14:37.640
<v Speaker 1>I didn't want them to talk anymore about trying to

0:14:37.720 --> 0:14:40.320
<v Speaker 1>learn me into this thing. So I said to Ralph Roberts,

0:14:40.320 --> 0:14:42.120
<v Speaker 1>tell me your story. He tells me the story, and

0:14:42.160 --> 0:14:44.160
<v Speaker 1>in the story he's telling me how we started this

0:14:44.200 --> 0:14:47.400
<v Speaker 1>thing called QVC. I said, stop, tell me more about QVC.

0:14:47.760 --> 0:14:51.400
<v Speaker 1>He starts telling me more about QVC, drawing him out

0:14:51.400 --> 0:14:58.600
<v Speaker 1>and drawing him out, and uh. And I said to him,

0:14:58.680 --> 0:15:00.840
<v Speaker 1>what's gonna What are you gonna do with QVC? Said, well,

0:15:00.840 --> 0:15:05.280
<v Speaker 1>the founder is going to retire. I said, really, I said,

0:15:05.920 --> 0:15:07.440
<v Speaker 1>is he What is he going to do? He said, well,

0:15:07.440 --> 0:15:09.400
<v Speaker 1>he's gonna sell his I said, could I buy his interest?

0:15:09.520 --> 0:15:11.920
<v Speaker 1>Ralph said yes. I walked out of the Four Seasons

0:15:11.920 --> 0:15:14.480
<v Speaker 1>Hotel knowing what I was going to do. I went

0:15:14.520 --> 0:15:18.320
<v Speaker 1>to QVC, took an interest in it, and that was

0:15:18.480 --> 0:15:22.800
<v Speaker 1>three years. Again, there's a primitive convergence of these computers

0:15:22.800 --> 0:15:26.240
<v Speaker 1>and telephones, and that was three years before the Internet

0:15:26.280 --> 0:15:31.200
<v Speaker 1>really started for normal foot So it was luck and circumstances.

0:15:31.200 --> 0:15:33.480
<v Speaker 1>At that point. People had said, Barry Diller, who has

0:15:33.560 --> 0:15:35.120
<v Speaker 1>been a big guest, They said I was Then they

0:15:35.160 --> 0:15:37.280
<v Speaker 1>said I was crazy, and he's a low rand. They

0:15:37.280 --> 0:15:40.280
<v Speaker 1>were sure I was crazy, low rank QBC, what is he?

0:15:40.440 --> 0:15:42.640
<v Speaker 1>Where is he going? And went to west Chester Pennsylvanu.

0:15:42.760 --> 0:15:46.720
<v Speaker 1>We will never hear about him again. Okay. So QVC

0:15:47.600 --> 0:15:50.840
<v Speaker 1>you had a stake in it. Ultimately you grew it.

0:15:51.160 --> 0:15:54.040
<v Speaker 1>You started buying Internet related companies, things that sold things

0:15:54.080 --> 0:15:58.480
<v Speaker 1>over the internet, Ticketmaster or things like that, and then

0:15:58.520 --> 0:16:00.240
<v Speaker 1>you put him into a company called I A C.

0:16:00.560 --> 0:16:02.800
<v Speaker 1>Did you know at the time each of these would

0:16:02.840 --> 0:16:05.920
<v Speaker 1>probably work? Oh no, of course you didn't. So by

0:16:05.920 --> 0:16:08.800
<v Speaker 1>the way, many of them didn't. But the most successful

0:16:08.800 --> 0:16:11.320
<v Speaker 1>of them is that Expedia is that the biggest, is

0:16:11.360 --> 0:16:16.200
<v Speaker 1>probably the biggest, but you know they they they range

0:16:16.240 --> 0:16:21.240
<v Speaker 1>from live Nation, Ticketmaster, uh, match dot com. So you

0:16:21.280 --> 0:16:23.640
<v Speaker 1>own this company and it's now become a very big

0:16:23.640 --> 0:16:27.000
<v Speaker 1>public company. Roughly two million dollars is put in to

0:16:27.120 --> 0:16:29.320
<v Speaker 1>buy the company's initial that you started with, and today

0:16:29.360 --> 0:16:33.040
<v Speaker 1>that's worth fifty seven billion dollars more or less. So

0:16:33.120 --> 0:16:35.440
<v Speaker 1>that's pretty good. As I think I've mentioned, your stock

0:16:35.520 --> 0:16:39.040
<v Speaker 1>is up this year. So how are you going to

0:16:39.040 --> 0:16:42.240
<v Speaker 1>top all that? In the business world? You can't do

0:16:42.320 --> 0:16:45.880
<v Speaker 1>much better than you've done. Find something else to fail

0:16:45.920 --> 0:16:50.680
<v Speaker 1>at first? Today? Uh, the internet, UM is still very

0:16:50.760 --> 0:16:54.320
<v Speaker 1>much part of our lives. What about television and and

0:16:54.680 --> 0:16:57.120
<v Speaker 1>UM Motion Picture? Do you think they'll continue to be

0:16:58.040 --> 0:17:01.840
<v Speaker 1>important parts of our lives. I think the movie business

0:17:01.960 --> 0:17:07.880
<v Speaker 1>is over as a really cultural institution of of any

0:17:08.960 --> 0:17:13.680
<v Speaker 1>great value, because the movie business is now about primarily

0:17:13.720 --> 0:17:19.000
<v Speaker 1>it's about making sequels and big, huge, mega movies that

0:17:19.080 --> 0:17:21.720
<v Speaker 1>are more marketing things than anything else. So I think

0:17:21.760 --> 0:17:26.240
<v Speaker 1>movies have very much receded. I think television is, of course,

0:17:26.240 --> 0:17:28.640
<v Speaker 1>as we all know, it's having a great period because

0:17:29.560 --> 0:17:35.760
<v Speaker 1>of the incredible optionality in television and the craft. Are

0:17:35.760 --> 0:17:38.399
<v Speaker 1>you worried that four or five technology companies can control

0:17:38.440 --> 0:17:41.440
<v Speaker 1>our culture and our our lives so much or you're

0:17:41.440 --> 0:17:43.560
<v Speaker 1>not worried about that. No, I am worried about that.

0:17:43.600 --> 0:17:49.520
<v Speaker 1>I've always thought concentration, too much concentration is bad, and

0:17:49.600 --> 0:17:54.520
<v Speaker 1>that goes against the consolidating principles which are forcing consolidation everywhere,

0:17:54.560 --> 0:17:56.879
<v Speaker 1>and we'll continue to and I think that's not a

0:17:56.880 --> 0:18:00.960
<v Speaker 1>good thing. But you expect the movie companys and television

0:18:00.960 --> 0:18:03.479
<v Speaker 1>companies were ultimately bought by these big technology companies. I'm

0:18:03.520 --> 0:18:06.360
<v Speaker 1>not so sure they'll buy them. I think they'll actually

0:18:06.400 --> 0:18:10.919
<v Speaker 1>supersede them. I mean, the thing is that, uh that

0:18:11.720 --> 0:18:15.920
<v Speaker 1>the two companies that are that are really dominating right

0:18:15.960 --> 0:18:22.199
<v Speaker 1>now are Netflix, grown totally outside of the infrastructure of

0:18:22.200 --> 0:18:28.359
<v Speaker 1>the entertainment business and Amazon and which whose business model

0:18:29.880 --> 0:18:33.760
<v Speaker 1>is absolutely antithetical in a way to what the business

0:18:33.760 --> 0:18:37.720
<v Speaker 1>model of entertainment has been, which is you put on

0:18:37.760 --> 0:18:40.440
<v Speaker 1>a show and people like it, and the audience comes

0:18:40.480 --> 0:18:42.960
<v Speaker 1>and they pay you. Their business model is to sell

0:18:43.000 --> 0:18:46.640
<v Speaker 1>subscriptions to prime and just as a subsidiary, they give

0:18:46.640 --> 0:18:50.000
<v Speaker 1>you good stuff on the side. It's worked out pretty well. Yeah,

0:18:50.240 --> 0:18:53.119
<v Speaker 1>you've spent a lot of time on philanthropy recently. You're

0:18:53.119 --> 0:18:55.920
<v Speaker 1>you committed to the Giving Pledge that Warren Buffett and

0:18:55.920 --> 0:18:59.320
<v Speaker 1>Bill Gates developed and you're one of the original signers

0:18:59.359 --> 0:19:02.480
<v Speaker 1>of it. Uh. And one of your philanthropies in New

0:19:02.560 --> 0:19:05.280
<v Speaker 1>York is something called high Line. What the high Line

0:19:05.480 --> 0:19:09.439
<v Speaker 1>was was an elevated railroad track that hadn't been used

0:19:09.480 --> 0:19:13.400
<v Speaker 1>for probably fifty years. So what we did. It took

0:19:13.760 --> 0:19:18.280
<v Speaker 1>ten years. We created this elevated park. We thought the

0:19:18.320 --> 0:19:20.840
<v Speaker 1>first year we'd have three hundred and fifty I think

0:19:20.840 --> 0:19:25.880
<v Speaker 1>it was three people. Three million came the first year

0:19:26.600 --> 0:19:29.480
<v Speaker 1>and last year seven million. So it's been this right,

0:19:29.480 --> 0:19:32.200
<v Speaker 1>it's been a very successful thing. So that prompted you

0:19:32.280 --> 0:19:34.560
<v Speaker 1>to say, well, if I did this, maybe I could

0:19:34.600 --> 0:19:38.800
<v Speaker 1>do something else even stupider. It happened this way. They

0:19:38.880 --> 0:19:40.560
<v Speaker 1>came and said that they were going to tear down

0:19:40.560 --> 0:19:44.120
<v Speaker 1>a pier because it was falling apart, and uh, would

0:19:44.119 --> 0:19:48.360
<v Speaker 1>I'd be interested in building a new pier? And I said, well,

0:19:48.359 --> 0:19:50.760
<v Speaker 1>not if it's a peer. What you're planning to do

0:19:50.840 --> 0:19:53.560
<v Speaker 1>is boring. But if I could be ambitious about it,

0:19:54.000 --> 0:19:57.160
<v Speaker 1>about maybe building an actual island in the park that's

0:19:57.200 --> 0:20:00.920
<v Speaker 1>not shaped like a pier, if you're up. If you're

0:20:01.000 --> 0:20:02.960
<v Speaker 1>up for that, I'm up for it. And of course

0:20:03.080 --> 0:20:08.600
<v Speaker 1>we started with m you know, kind of a narrower vision,

0:20:08.680 --> 0:20:11.840
<v Speaker 1>and like all crazy projects, it's all right, boom and

0:20:11.960 --> 0:20:14.960
<v Speaker 1>people can go there, and yes, it's a The idea

0:20:15.200 --> 0:20:18.280
<v Speaker 1>is that, you know, there's I love public art. The

0:20:18.440 --> 0:20:22.000
<v Speaker 1>idea of making a public space. I think it's great.

0:20:22.119 --> 0:20:25.080
<v Speaker 1>So it is a park for people. It's also a

0:20:25.080 --> 0:20:28.720
<v Speaker 1>performance center. Do we pull it off? Okay? It's almost

0:20:28.760 --> 0:20:32.320
<v Speaker 1>like walking on the You get to it by two bridges,

0:20:32.720 --> 0:20:35.960
<v Speaker 1>and walking to the bridge, you'll leave this city of

0:20:36.080 --> 0:20:40.359
<v Speaker 1>concrete and mostly concrete and stir and all this stuff,

0:20:40.400 --> 0:20:42.639
<v Speaker 1>and you'll go to Oz and what's it going to

0:20:42.720 --> 0:20:46.520
<v Speaker 1>be called? Pre not Diller part No, you don't want that. No,

0:20:47.000 --> 0:20:50.320
<v Speaker 1>So today, if you were starting your career all over again,

0:20:51.000 --> 0:20:52.919
<v Speaker 1>what would you go and what area would you go

0:20:52.960 --> 0:20:55.639
<v Speaker 1>into it? I have no idea. I mean, I think

0:20:56.880 --> 0:21:01.520
<v Speaker 1>I've never really had a goal. I've never I mean,

0:21:01.560 --> 0:21:05.960
<v Speaker 1>I've never said I want to be that. So to me,

0:21:06.280 --> 0:21:09.240
<v Speaker 1>it was whatever I was curious about. Now. One of

0:21:09.280 --> 0:21:11.320
<v Speaker 1>the things I'd like to ask people about his leadership,

0:21:11.400 --> 0:21:13.040
<v Speaker 1>what do you think the skills are that you had

0:21:13.200 --> 0:21:17.480
<v Speaker 1>as a leader? Probably, uh, kind of often blind willfulness,

0:21:18.040 --> 0:21:23.040
<v Speaker 1>I think will uh some energy to propel it. But

0:21:23.880 --> 0:21:28.840
<v Speaker 1>the stronger the will I think, the more I think

0:21:28.840 --> 0:21:33.320
<v Speaker 1>that that at least allows people to follow. If you

0:21:33.359 --> 0:21:35.760
<v Speaker 1>were to say today what you're most proud of what

0:21:35.840 --> 0:21:42.159
<v Speaker 1>you have achieved with your life, what would you say? Uh?

0:21:42.680 --> 0:21:47.119
<v Speaker 1>Probably probably my marriage. Okay, so you got married in

0:21:47.240 --> 0:21:50.680
<v Speaker 1>two thousand and one one and to a very famous

0:21:50.720 --> 0:21:54.080
<v Speaker 1>fashion designer. Does she give you fashion advice and addressing

0:21:54.119 --> 0:21:57.440
<v Speaker 1>you or not? Really take a look? No, well I don't,

0:21:58.119 --> 0:22:00.479
<v Speaker 1>I don't know. But do you give her advice on internet?

0:22:00.480 --> 0:22:08.280
<v Speaker 1>Reality of things? Her instincts transcend fashion, and so anything

0:22:08.320 --> 0:22:12.280
<v Speaker 1>that comes up her instincts are pretty damn good. And

0:22:12.320 --> 0:22:16.800
<v Speaker 1>so I listen and she occasionally listens to me. Okay,

0:22:17.320 --> 0:22:20.440
<v Speaker 1>so you have a very happy life. I'm so lucky.

0:22:20.600 --> 0:22:23.000
<v Speaker 1>Well say thank you. That's what I do all the time.

0:22:23.320 --> 0:22:26.160
<v Speaker 1>Congratulations for what you've achieved, and thank you very much

0:22:26.160 --> 0:22:27.119
<v Speaker 1>for your time, pleasure,