Diller slams NY Times coverage of executive compensation

Media executive Barry Diller slammed shareholder governance groups and the New York Times coverage of executive compensation at the Reuters Media Summitt in New York on Monday.

Reuters reporter Martha Graybow noted that Diller received $295 million in compensation last year.

Graybow wrote, “Diller also said he laughed after reading a New York Times op-ed column by Nicholas Kristof earlier this month that suggested Diller ‘may be the laziest man in America.’ Kristof said that a breakdown of Diller’s pay shows he is paid roughly $150,000 an hour to get motivated to do his job.

“He said the column used a nominal figure for the value of his options, but if it had taken into account the context of the grant and the fact that he continues to hold the shares, ‘it is impossible then to make these representations.’

“Diller said he found ‘the whole issue of executive compensation and particularly the policy of The New York Times business section toward executive compensation … absolutely loony.’ He singled out, in particular, business writer Gretchen Morgenson, who often writes about executive pay and corporate governance.

“Morgenson told Reuters, ‘Well he’s certainly entitled to his opinion. I think when someone like Barry Diller says that our focus on executive pay is loony, it must mean that we’re doing the right thing.’

“‘The assessment of his compensation was from research firms that specialize in compensation. As for our business section, I’m sure it could a better job if we were able to pay reporters $150,000 an hour, but frankly I think they do a terrific job with the resources they have,’ said Nicholas Kristof, op-ed columnist at The New York Times, responding to Barry Diller. Kristof spoke to Reuters by phone, as did Morgenson.

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