Succession has a knack for finding Shakespearean drama
and dark hilarity in an honest reflection
of today’s billionaires and media ecosystems.
But how much of it is directly inspired by specific facts?
“The four kids have to decide who among them ought to be
the heir apparent?” “In terms of power, yes.” It’s long been noticed the
Succession Patriarch Logan Roy has a lot in common with Rupert Murdoch,
as well as some overlaps with others like Sumner Redstone.
Jesse Armstrong’s original script was apparently called The Murdochs,
and Jerry Hall’s divorce agreement with Murdoch forbade
her from giving any storylines to Succession–
so the family is clearly aware of the resemblances.
“There are a lot of influential media families
in the US for us to think about and draw on.” And in fact, through looking at
Rupert Murdoch, we probably should have
called the Succession ending… In a deal announced in 2017 and completed
in 2019, Murdoch sold most
of 21st Century Fox’s assets to an outside company Disney just
as— Spoiler alert! In the end Logan decides
to sell to Lukas Matssen, and none of his kids manage to hold on
as true successors to his company. “Shiv, you should probably know
[Long Pause]It’s me.” Obviously, "Succession" is a work of fiction
that goes far beyond these inspirations, and the creators have stated that the show
isn't directly based on any one particular family,
but let’s take a look at some of the interesting parallels.
Logan Roy and Rupert Murdoch: Both are aging
patriarchs
of influential media empires. Logan’s ATN is a lot like
right-leaning Fox News. They have a hard-edged,
ruthless approach to business and are deeply involved in their companies
even at an advanced age. They both have had health issues
that caused family and corporate upheaval
around succession issues. Both are American immigrants
Logan from Scotland, and Rupert from Australia,
and they have built successful media empires with controversial legacies.
“Today the aging titan had a taste of humble pie.
Quite literally, a shaving cream pie stuffed in his face.”
Like Logan, Rupert always gave the impression he intended for one of his kids to succeed
him, but never
explicitly named anyone as the heir, and mixed up his family and his business
to a degree that reportedly encouraged his children
to compete for his love-slash-business. “You’re my number one boy.”
Kendall Roy and James slash Lachlan Murdoch: Kendall is kind of a mix of two
of Rupert’s sons, Lachlan and James Murdoch.
Kendall is obsessed with rap, and James owned a hip hop label.
James was “sacrificed” by his dad in the 2011 hacking scandal,
like Logan tried to do to Kendall. “At that point I believe my son was
across that operation.” I think my son can perhaps
answer that in more detail, he was a lot closer to it.”
and he resigned for good in 2020 over content differences,
similarly to how Kendall at certain points publicly criticizes his dad’s
choices and morals. “My father is a malignant presence,
a bully and a liar.” And Kendall, actor Jeremy
Strong took inspiration from the legend that James tied
his shoes very tightly. On the other hand,
Lachlan began as Murdoch’s most prominent heir apparent, like Kendall,
before he suddenly quit in 2005 echoing Kendall’s yo-yoing
between being his dad’s faithful servant and rebelling against him.
Lachlan returned again in 2014, and is still a major executive at Fox
but did not take over from his dad as head of NewsCorp
because of the Disney deal, again much like Kendall’s ending.
“This doesn’t make like logic, where's the logic!”
Overall, Kendall's struggle for power in the company
and efforts to modernize mirror some of the reported dynamics
between Rupert Murdoch and both Lachlan and James.
Shiv Roy and Elisabeth Murdoch slash Shari Redstone:
Shiv, like Elisabeth Murdoch and Shari Redstone,
is the only daughter in the family who’s somewhat distanced
from the core of the business but ultimately seeks a role within it.
Like Shiv, Elisabeth Murdoch built a career first
outside of the family business.
Elisabeth founded Shine Group, an international group
of TV production companies that produced successful shows,
but then, like Shiv, she still came under the family umbrella.
Elisabeth sold her company to her dad’s NewsCorp
and joined the board. Like with Shiv,
there was a lot of speculation about Elisabeth potentially taking on a leading
role within the Murdoch empire,
but in both cases, this didn’t fully materialize.
“I’ve always thought you were the smartest.”
“Oh so that’s why you tried Kendall and Roman first.”
In 2019, Elisabeth founded her own new production company, Sister,
which incidentally had a first-look deal with Jeremy Strong.
Rupert could reportedly be dismissive of his daughter
as a contender to succeed him, similarly to Logan with Shiv.
“You're a young woman with no experience.”
“A woman, That, that's a minus.” “Well, of course, it's a F-[BLEEP] minus!”
“I didn't make the world!” According to Sky High writer Mathew Horsman,
Rupert said Elisabeth needed to “figure out how many
children she would have” before going further in the
company. Shiv also has
parallels to Shari Redstone, who assumed control of National
Amusements and became the Chairwoman of ViacomCBS,
and also has red hair. Like Shiv, Shari both
publicly fought with her father and
desperately wanted his approval. Both have been involved in public and often
contentious succession struggles.
Unlike Shari, Shiv doesn't engage in actual legal battles
with her family members, whereas Shari was involved
in multiple lawsuits related to her father's company
and succession planning. Shari also only has one brother,
and was more in conflict with her elderly father’s romantic partners.