How the Roys on 'Succession' Compare to the Murdochs
HBO’s Succession—the best television show you will ever experience—premiered its second season last month. At its epicenter are the Roys, a family who own a media empire and are loosely inspired by the prolific Murdoch brood, who have dominated the media and entertainment space for decades.
Though the HBO drama is still relatively new, creator Jesse Armstrong has had the Murdochs in his focus for years. Before Succession, the showrunner wrote a screenplay called Murdoch, a drama that details the family’s discussion about Rupert Murdoch’s successor on his 78th birthday. As fans of Succession will note, the series premiere follows the Roy family’s discussion about patriarch Logan Roy’s successor on his 80th birthday.
In 2018, Armstrong told Variety, “This is a fictional family,” but that he knows a “good deal” about his subject. He also said that the Succession writers pored over information about the Murdochs, while keeping William Randolph Hearst, Robert Maxwell, and even Queen Elizabeth top of mind. “There’s loads of succession stories to draw on,” he said. “We wanted to draw on all the good, rich stories there are about succession and about media and high politics.”
Below, we’re gathering all the times when the Roys mirrored the Murdochs on-screen.
Waystar Royco and News Corp
Rupert Murdoch founded News Corp, whose major holdings included Fox News, the New York Post, 20th Century Fox, and European publication The Sun. News Corp split its assets into two publicly traded companies in 2012: one to focus on media, the other on publishing.
Waystar Royco—the fictional media conglomerate in Succession—includes ATN, a conservative-leaning broadcast news network similar to Fox News, as well as theme parks, a film division, and Vaulter, which is a website similar to Vice (Fox invested a five-percent share in Vice in 2013, with son James Murdoch joining Vice Media as director).
Waystar also controls various publications, including tabloids: In Season 1, Episode 7, Logan uses his power as CEO to have his publications print false stories of Kendall’s drug use and behavior after Kendall’s failed attempt at a vote of no confidence in Episode 6.
Logan Roy and Rupert Murdoch
Early on, it’s demonstrated that Logan Roy, at 80 years old, is in poor health—there's even a confused urination scene to open the series. At the end of the first episode, Logan suffers a near-fatal stroke, which causes his children to discuss who should take over the company should he not make it through. Though he lives, his health remains an issue for the majority of the season. Still, he refuses to retire.
Rupert Murdoch, now 88, continues to serve as executive chairman of News Corp and co-chairman of Fox Corporation, even though he’s well past the average retiring age and has offspring seemingly capable of succeeding him. In 2018, Murdoch suffered a serious back injury (about which he told The Hollywood Reporter, “I’m doing great,” and went back to the office weeks later). Though there are no further major health issues known to the public, Murdoch reportedly was admitted to the hospital with pneumonia in June.
On the family front, the pair share additional similarities. Logan Roy has four children and has been married three times, while Rupert Murdoch has six children and has been married four times.
The Children
Logan Roy’s children aren’t directly inspired by Murdoch’s children, but there are a few traits they have in common. At the beginning of Season 1, Kendall Roy is expected to be announced as Logan Roy’s heir apparent. Instead, Logan refuses to retire and eventually fires his son for trying to overthrow him.
Rupert Murdoch’s son, Lachlan Murdoch, hasn’t attempted a vote of no confidence in his dad (that we know of), but he abruptly resigned from his executive post at News Corp and as publisher of the New York Post. Before his departure, most assumed Lachlan would be Rupert’s successor, just like how Succession fans (and Kendall himself), assumed Kendall would be the obvious next-in-line.
James Murdoch, said to be the rebel of the family, lines up perfectly with Roman Roy. Roman worked for Waystar Royco’s film division, where he was involved with a movie he hates called The Biggest Turkey in the World. James, the former CEO of 21st Century Fox, was also the chairman of Sky before Comcast acquired it in its entirety.
Further, James was embroiled in the investigation of the News of the World phone-hacking scandal. He claimed he had no knowledge of the wrongdoings. At the end of Season 1, Roman oversees a rocket launch that ultimately explodes, and Season 2 sees him under investigation for what went wrong. In Roman’s case, he is well aware that he rushed the launch in order to make it happen on Shiv and Tom’s wedding day.
Connor Roy is Logan’s eldest child, and has a different mother from half-siblings Kendall, Roman, and Shiv. Connor relies on his inheritance exclusively to make a living, though he is thinking about starting a podcast on Napoleonic history. He has no ambitions within Waystar Royco beyond reaping its riches, because he believes his family’s money can help him one day become president of the United States—a job he feels qualified for because he is rich. Though these details don’t make Connor Roy an exact replica of Prudence Murdoch, Rupert Murdoch’s eldest child (who, like Connor, has a different mother than her half-siblings), Prudence does happen to be “the only one of [Rupert Murdoch's] children not directly competing for his business affections.”
Elisabeth Murdoch began her News Corp career at FX Networks. It appeared that she was being set up as a possible successor to her father, but she eventually left News Corp to start her own production company, Shine Limited. In 2011, News Corp bought Shine. Now, there aren’t many correlations between Logan Roy’s daughter, Shiv, and Elisabeth beyond gender, ambition, and business savvy, but there is a common theme that exists among both of their desires to work independently of their fathers’ names—only to then be pulled back in. It’s a truth that rings true for all of the Roy siblings (including Connor). Now, who’s in need of some family therapy?
Season 1, Episode 7 deals with the aftermath of Kendall’s failed coup, with Logan Roy inviting all of his children (except Kendall) to a family therapy session at Connor’s New Mexico ranch. It … doesn’t go well. While the episode’s storyline makes sense for the season and its characters’ arc, it’s also one of the storylines directly “inspired” by the Murdochs. In 2011, Vanity Fair reported that the Murdochs met with a family therapist to discuss “the issue of succession” following the News of the World phone-hacking scandal that shook the company. Although, unlike the therapist on Succession, the Murdochs’ mediator did not lose his teeth as a result of diving into the shallow end of a swimming pool.
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