Barry Diller Drops Bid to Acquire MGM Resorts: ‘We Didn’t Feel the Mix Was Coming Together’

People Inc., the media company controlled by Barry Diller, is scrapping its proposed bid to acquire MGM Resorts International.

People Inc. (which changed its name from IAC this spring) owns about 27% of MGM Resorts. In June, the company submitted formal offer for the hotel and resorts operator to acquire all outstanding shares of MGM that People Inc. does not already own for $48.30 per share in cash.

But on Wednesday, People Inc. said it was withdrawing the offer.

Diller, who serves as People Inc.’s chairman and senior executive, said in a statement, “There are lots of ingredients that go into a proposal of this kind on its way to completion. We didn’t feel the mix was coming together in the way we had hoped and have decided not to pursue taking the company private at this time.”

Diller added, “What is undimmed is our belief in the future of MGM Resorts. We continue to hold 66.8 million shares representing approximately 27% of MGM Resorts and have total confidence in both the management and the Company’s prospects.”

The media mogul added, “People Incorporated is doing just fine with its principal publishing business achieving its 11th quarter of growth with plenty of cash to both invest in its business and purchase its stock.”

People Inc. remains “open to and interested in the possibility of a strategic transaction with MGM Resorts and look forward to considering a range of alternatives,” Diller said.

Back in June, Diller had said MGM Resorts “represented a rare kind of business: one with real-world assets that AI cannot easily replicate or disintermediate and exceptional digital growth opportunities.”

The company’s Dotdash Meredith publishing unit in July 2025 had changed its name to People Inc., and Diller subsequently decided to apply that name to the whole enterprise.