Succession’s Real-Life Inspirations
Succession follows a dysfunctional media family with many power struggles, and creator and showrunner Jesse Armstrong notes the show draws inspiration from real dynasties.
Logan Roy attempts to sell Waystar Royco to Lukas Matsson of GoJo, GoJo’s Swedish CEO. While it sounds like an ideal business deal from Fortune Magazine, is it really?
Murdoch Family
Succession draws inspiration from several real life families, most notably the Murdochs; however, that doesn’t necessarily indicate its primary source. Jesse Armstrong has made clear that while they did come up in writing room discussions for Succession, they were only one factor among several media and high-politics families taken into consideration while writing the series.
Rupert Murdoch expanded the small newspaper company established by his father into an extensive media empire that spans satellite, television, film, publishing, sports media and news companies. He’s known for his aggressive business practices such as hacking into royals’ phones to secure stories, as well as permitting his tabloids to bully and harass competitors.
His oldest son Lachlan serves as Chairman of both Fox News Channel and 21st Century Fox while his younger daughter James serves as Co-Chairman of both companies. Furthermore, James serves as CEO of Asian satellite TV firm STAR as well as being owner of Los Angeles Dodgers baseball team.
Sulzberger Family
Succession explores how a family has long run the New York Times for generations, and their struggles with succession issues like those found in season two of Succession. Like Roys from Season two of Succession, Ochs-Sulzberger clan has seen their share of drama despite digital disruption; yet in spite of current publisher Arthur “AG” Sulzberger being only the sixth member to hold that position; family connections remain strong: several fifth-generation cousins work at Hillandale, their family estate in Connecticut!
Attractively, Lynn Golden’s family also boasts strong Jewish ties–an issue which the Times was widely accused of not adequately covering during World War II. Although Lynn was raised within her mother’s Episcopalian faith and no longer practices it herself, she maintains strong connections to Jewish communities across North America.
Redstone Family
Sumner Redstone, founder of National Amusements entertainment empire, refused to discuss his business succession plans. Instead, he left it up to his family members – his heirs having publicly clashed over both his estate and stake in CBS and Viacom.
Redstone recruited his daughter Shari out of law school to join his media empire, placing her on both CBS and Viacom boards. Unfortunately, this led to tensions, legal battles and even estrangement with her father as he held onto power over both corporations.
Shari was able to navigate her father’s conflicting wishes to successfully reset and revive National Amusements’ business, becoming one of seven trustees controlling Sumner’s 80% ownership stake and controlling her vote by increasing it from 10% to 20% voting stake in National Amusements and employing her three children Kimberlee, Brandon, and Tyler who all work at National Amusements. Shari also led her company into digital technology with Paramount+ streaming platform – an accomplishment few could rival!
Maxwell Family
The Maxwell family boasts an intriguing past. Undwin, their ancestor who first settled in Scotland around 1070, later become a significant landowner in Roxburghshire; Dumfriesshire also played an important role with R1b grouping being part of this story.
The Maxwell family history is one of feuds and money struggles. Their rivalries were evident with neighboring families as well as within themselves; Scottish border chiefs would even summon them when one of their rivals attacked them, leading to bloodshed between neighbors.
Ghislaine may be following in her father’s footsteps by using shell companies and making contradictory declarations of net worth, as hinted by his statement “Confidence is like virginity — you only lose it once”. OCCRP and Miami Herald have reported on documents signed by Kevin Hougue (Kevin’s brother) showing possible fraud or tax evasion activities against Ghislaine.
