Business

Diller defends his role in FTC pickle

Barry Diller is getting huffy with regulators.

The media mogul agreed to pay $480,000 to settle allegations that he failed to properly disclose his Coca-Cola stake.

The Federal Trade Commission on Tuesday said the IAC/InterActiveCorp chairman bought nearly 1 million shares of the soft-drink giant between 2010 and 2012 without giving regulators proper advance notice.

Yesterday, Diller said it was an innocent mistake and that he was “dismayed” that the FTC failed to note in its press release that the settlement amount was “a small fraction” of the amount regulators were entitled to.

“In fact, I am told that the amount I agreed to pay is one of the smallest percentages the FTC has settled for with respect to purported violations of the [Hart-Scott-Rodino] Act,” he said in a statement.

That act mandates that large purchases of stock that could affect commerce must be preceded by federal notification.

While not disputing the facts, Diller said the FTC failed to say that the purchases were made by him personally and that he made the required filings as soon as he realized he was in violation of the rules.

“I gained no advantage of any kind and there was no harm to Coca-Cola shareholders, nor to anyone else,” Diller said. “While I am surely not suffering, one can fairly question the tactics used by the FTC in penalizing individuals for de minimis open-market share purchases and inadvertent paper shuffling.”

He also took issue with the FTC’s comments about an earlier failure to file, saying it was “a technical failure to file by USA Networks in 1998 in connection with a transaction that was initially below the HSR thresholds.”

Diller said he made the statement because he cares about “good citizenship and good government, and it would be unfair to both not to comment.”

The FTC declined to comment.