Who Knew

Barry Diller one of America’s most successful businessmen reveals himself here—his successes failures and struggles—with surprising candor and intimacy in a memoir rich in Hollywood lore and filled with business acumen. Writing in his singular voice Barry Diller delivers an astute business memoir an unvarnished look at Hollywood a primer on media and a surprisingly frank coming-of-age story. “I want to work in the mail room at William Morris.” So begins Diller’s show business life. Diller did not aspire to be an agent nor was he a glove fit for William Morris the legendary talent agency he describes as resembling a “Jewish Vatican.” But he was a good assistant and student and took it all in. Before long Diller was offered a job at ABC. His ascent was meteoric launching ABC TV’s Movie of the Week at age twenty-seven becoming CEO of Paramount Pictures at age thirty-two and launching the Fox TV network at age forty-four. Along the way