Barry Diller says he will not take independent chairman role at Uber

Barry Diller, a prominent media executive and a mentor to Uber’s new CEO, said Tuesday that he would not serve as the first independent chairman of the company’s board.

Diller told Recode in a brief interview that he was not interested in the job. Several Uber insiders have hoped that the chairman of IAC would take the position to support new Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi, who worked for Diller as the CEO at Expedia.

“No,” Diller said when asked if he would consider taking the job at Uber. “I have enough work — to say the least.”

Diller’s comments Tuesday from the sidelines of the Wall Street Journal’s D.Live conference in Laguna Beach, Calif. are the first time he has publicly ruled out taking the job.

As part of a series of governance reforms meant to repair the troubled $70 billion company, Uber is adding an independent chairman role to its expanded board that will include as many as 17 people.

Diller did promise to “support Dara in every way I can,” though he then again confirmed that would not include the chairman’s role.

This article originally appeared on Recode.net.

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