IAC rebrands to People Incorporated amid broader strategic shift
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People Inc. CEO Neil Vogel speaks at Media Trends Live on Sept. 18, 2025. Photo: Vita Phoenix/Edin Studios on behalf of Axios
IAC, the publicly traded internet holding company, on Tuesday said it would change its name to People Incorporated to reflect its focus on its People Inc. publishing business.
Why it matters: IAC was created in 1995 as a vehicle for founder Barry Diller, 84, to buy and build internet platforms that he could grow and spin out to create more value. It's become less acquisitive in recent years as it focused on its fastest-growing asset.
Catch up quick: People Inc. was formed in 2021 when IAC's Dotdash acquired Meredith.
- The Dotdash publishing business was created in 2017 after IAC rebranded About.com, which it bought from the New York Times in 2012.
- People Inc. today accounts for more than 70% of the revenue for IAC. It's one of the largest publishers in America.
Zoom in: In an SEC filing Tuesday, IAC announced People Inc. CEO Neil Vogel and CFO Tim Quinn will become CEO and CFO of the new publicly traded entity, respectively.
- Diller said in his letter he will remain chair and senior executive, advising the company, which — in addition to fully owning People Inc. — has a 26% stake in MGM Resorts and a 32% stake in car rental company Turo.
- People Inc. will officially become the primary operating asset of the holding group. Vogel and Quinn will continue to lead People Inc. in addition to becoming managers of the holding company.
Zoom out: People Inc. was rebranded last year to reflect what was then-Dotdash Meredith's most popular and recognizable title.
- Under Vogel and his management team, People Inc. has become much more profitable, despite headwinds from AI and changes to the search advertising market.
By the numbers: In 2022, the first full year after the Meredith acquisition closed, the combined profit for Dotdash Meredith was roughly $152 million. In 2025 it was around $357 million.
- While IAC has yet to report earnings for the first quarter of 2026, Diller said in his shareholder letter that the quarter will represent People Inc.'s 10th straight quarter of digital revenue growth.
Between the lines: People Inc. has grown while other publishing businesses have struggled by focusing its efforts on digitizing its print titles while leveraging their brand equity to build stronger experiential businesses.
- The company has invested tens of millions of dollars to modernize the content across its titles with human expertise, while repositioning its advertising business around contextual targeting that is more resilient to changes in search.
The big picture: The rebrand and management shake-up has been a long time coming.
- Over the past three decades, IAC has owned and operated more than 200 companies, in addition to overseeing over 100 minority investments. It has remained relevant by reinvesting in new entities following divestitures.
- In recent years, IAC has spun out most of its largest businesses without buying many new properties to replace them in its portfolio.
- Last month, it announced a deal to sell Care.com to a private investment group. It spun out its home services platform Angi, last year, and made former IAC CEO Joey Levin executive chair of that asset. It spun out Match Group in 2020 and Vimeo in 2021.
The bottom line: Diller said in his shareholder letter that it's possible his company could find new arenas to expand now that it's downsized, but it will focus on publishing and its stake in MGM for now.
- "Each cycle over the last 30 years, we downsized to a smaller company — I like that. It gives us room and energy to be agile and opportunistic," he said.
What to watch: IAC will likely continue to divest noncore assets, such as its stake in Turo, to generate cash that it can use to invest in core assets.
Editor's note: This story has been corrected to reflect that Barry Diller is 84 (not 85), and the chart was corrected to show Meredith acquired Time Inc. in 2018 (not 2017).
