UPDATED with approval: The Nevada Gaming Commission has approved a limited license for MGM Resorts International shareholder Barry Diller to work in the state’s casino industry after probing the billionaire IAC chairman and former media mogul about a federal investigation into his purchases of shares of Activision Blizzard.IAC has a 14% stake in MGM Resorts.
Diller and IAC’s CEO Joey Levin are on the board. Diller, his stepson Alexander von Furstenberg and David Geffen reportedly acquired stock in the videogame giant right before it was acquired by Microsoft early this year, boosting the stock.
Diller has said he had no knowledge of the upcoming deal.According to the WSJ, the commission voted 4-1 to approve Diller for a two-year license while the investigation is pending, rather than granting him a full license.PREVIOUSLY: The Nevada Gaming Commission today sent IAC Chairperson Barry Diller and CEO Joey Levin’s gambling license applications back to the Nevada Gaming Control Board for “further fact finding and investigation”.The decision by the Nevada gambling regulator comes in the wake of federal prosecutors and the SEC investigating Diller, Alexander von Furstenberg and David Geffen who reportedly made an unrealized $60 million profit on an Activision Blizzard options trade days before the videogame label w Microsoft on Jan.
18.An IAC rep in an email response to Deadline said, “Mr. Diller’s license application was not rejected; the matter was simply delayed.
Read more on deadline.com