In ‘Connor’s Wedding’, the third episode of the fourth and final season of Succession, we see Logan die on his private jet as his children desperately try to speak to him over the phone as Tom holds it to his ear.
Briefly the children – Shiv, Roman, and Kendell (plus Connor, their stepbrother) are united in grief… but then the chaos begins. Tom calls Greg, asking him to delete files on his computer and to keep a lid on things until the market closes. However, statements on the death are organised by Hugo and Gerri, until the siblings take charge and issue their own statement ahead of a board meeting the next day. Already, though, Waystar’s stock is plummeting.
And then the trouble really starts…
According to reports of a secret court case in Nevada, for those in the Murdoch family watching those scenes, alarm bells were ringing. What would happen in the aftermath of patriarch Rupert’s death?
Succession was, of course, partly based on the Murdoch dynasty and the battle between his four oldest children – he has since had two more – to take over the business empire when he dies.
But actually, there had been a straightforward plan in place, a trust agreed as part of the divorce from Murdoch by the children’s mother, Torv where all four siblings – Lachlan, James, Elisabeth and, his daughter from his first marriage, Prudence – would take an equal share of the business.
All very unlike Succession. And oddly, it appears that the Logan Roy death episode of the show inspired a shift away from peaceful equality, in a case of life imitating art imitating life.
The New York Times have revealed leaked documents from a court case in Nevada, in which the commissioner there ruled against Rupert Murdoch’s attempt to change the family trust to ensure eldest son Lachlan had control of the media empire. While there had long been questions about which of his children would succeed him, Lachlan has been the clear choice for the past few years.
Murdoch wanted to ensure his media titles – led by Fox News and Time Inc – remain right-wing leaning. Lachlan is more aligned with his father than the other children, particularly James and Elisabeth, who are more centre or left-leaning (Prudence has thus far had little role in the business).
Since the trust ensures all the children must be looked after, there was no financial motive here, no diminishing of the actual stakes; rather, this was an attempt to secure operational control for Lachlan. This, argued Murdoch, would be in the best interests of the company, since he believes staying conservative right-wing is not just looking after his legacy, but is in the financial interest of all involved.
Commissioner Edmund J Gorman Jr rejected the move, saying father and son had “acted in bad faith” and was a “carefully crafted charade… to permanently cement Lachlan Murdoch’s executive roles…regardless of the impacts such control would have over the companies or the [family trust] beneficiaries.”
Father and son are going to appeal against the ruling, and in fact the commissioner does not have final say, the district judge does.
Hilariously, the stealth scheme launched by father and son was named ‘Project Harmony’.
In a statement after the ruling the other siblings said, “We welcome Commissioner Gorman’s decision and hope that we can move beyond this litigation to focus on strengthening and rebuilding relationships among all family members.”
There was apparently in-person testimony during court proceedings and the leaks to the NYT also revealed that Succession had kicked off some of the new manoeuvrings after ‘Connor’s Wedding’ hit screens in 2023. The commissioner said it showed how, “when the patriarch of the family dies, leaving his family and business in chaos.”
In April that year, Elisabeth’s representative to the trust, Mark Devereux, wrote a ‘Succession’ memo which spurred the Murdoch children into secretly discussing the PR strategy around their father’s death.
This seems to have been the spark that has led to the current court case.
And in fact it is known that the Murdoch’s were watching Jesse Eisenberg’s series. Sarah Snook, who plays Shiv Roy, said in an interview that Elisabeth was a fan: “I have it on good information that she’s actually watching the show.”
Producer Frank Rich said, “Some people in that constellation…have indicated they find the show quite interesting. We’ve certainly heard that people in that family, whether by marriage or otherwise, find it amusing, and have their own views on how closely characters might resemble members of the family.”
It seems the influence of the show is still present. How did Succession end? Well, it wasn’t in harmony between family members. But perhaps real life will be different.
