John Malone Talks Warner-Discovery Deal and Making Bill Gates Cry

It takes a lot to make the richest man in the world burst into tears, but a “no” from John Malone was enough to do it to Bill Gates.

Barry Diller , the entertainment mogul and IAC chairman, recalled the moment over lunch Thursday, telling attendees at the Paley Center for Media that the only time he saw Gates cry “is when John told him, no, we are not going to let you control the cable industry.

“Bill had laid so much pipe and tried so hard to pull this off, and it was in the back of a car going somewhere, and when you finally said ‘it’s not gonna happen,’ he burst out into tears,” Diller said to Malone, sitting a few feet to his left.

It takes a lot to make the richest man in the world burst into tears, but a “no” from John Malone was enough to do it to Bill Gates.

Barry Diller