Barry Diller exploring sale of Daily Beast: report

Media titan Barry Diller is exploring a potential sale of The Daily Beast, one of his top media properties, according to a new report.

IAC, Diller’s holding company, which includes several other media brands like People and Southern Living, has hired Whisper Advisors to explore a sale of The Daily Beast, The New York Times reported, citing two people with knowledge of the decision.

Diller launched the site in 2008 and has grown its online audience to several million a month, relying on digital subscriptions and online advertising to grow the business, the Times noted.

The Daily Beast has over the last 14 years become a well-known force in media for its splashy headlines and aggressive reporting on politics, media and culture, particularly on conservative and right-wing figures.

Last fall, it published a series of stories on Georgia Senate candidate Herschel Walker that revealed he was the father of children he had not previously acknowledged publicly.

In 2021, Tracy Connor, took over as The Daily Beast’s executive editor, replacing Noah Shachtman, who left to take over as editor of Rolling Stone.