Barry Diller Bringing Ask.com, $100M to China

IAC/InteractiveCorp., owner of over 60 interactive brands including search site Ask.com, will reportedly invest up to $100 million to build its business in China.

Chief Executive Barry Diller told journalists in Bejing that the company will likely launch a Chinese version of Ask.com within two years and plans to invest $100 million in an online gaming venture based there, MarketWatch reports today.

IAC, to date, has invested $200 million in China, Reuters reports. That investment involves IAC's Expedia, which has a majority stake in China's eLong.

Looks like Diller has some money to throw around. IAC, in its Sept. 30 earnings report, said it had had $1.8 billion in cash on hand and marketable securities.

In 2006, 9 percent of IAC's $6.3 billion in revenue came from media and advertising, including Ask.com, Evite, and CitySearch. As of

Earlier this month, Diller announced plans to split IAC into five companies. The plan calls for leaving the Internet and advertising-related entities intact under IAC's banner. Other new companies would include: HSN for retail businesses; Ticketmaster for ticket sales; Interval International for timeshare properties; and LendingTree for real estate and lending businesses.