Every Way Succession's Roy Family Borrows From Rupert Murdoch's Family

American titan and self-proclaimed corporate pirate Logan Roy, the main character of HBO's hit series "Succession," is based on a lot of real-life billionaires — but none fit the bill quite so much as Rupert Murdoch. Logan and Murdoch are both formidable patriarchs that were at the helm of huge media conglomerates with right-wing news channels. Both men also have a set of power-hungry children from multiple marriages scrambling for the chance to take over the family business — a thinly-veiled symbol of their father's affection. They might be evil, or they might be misunderstood Shakespearean tragedies, but either way, they share a striking number of similarities.

Like Murdoch, Logan is a newsman before all else. The fictional character got his start in journalism back in Dundee, a Scottish town known for its "juke, jam, and journalism," Brian Cox explained on the Succession Podcast. Similarly, Murdoch began his career by taking over his father's newspaper business in Australia. Logan also fought to keep his Fox-like news channel, ATN, under his control when he prepared to sell the rest of his company to a streaming service because, in his own words, he "f***ing love[s] news." Murdoch did the same thing when he sold the rest of Fox media, including FX and 20th Century Studios, to Disney in 2019. To an untrained observer, it would seem that both men programmed their legacies to self-destruct.

Logan and the GoJo sale are closely modeled after Rupert and the Disney sale, but to truly go into the details, we first have to break down each of Rupert's four oldest children, the roles they've played in his business, and their parallels in the "Succession" universe.

Prudence, or "Prue" as she is affectionately known, is her father's firstborn and the only child from his first marriage. After a short time working for one of the Murdoch newspapers, "News of the World," Prudence left the company and hasn't returned since, per People. She was described by Vanity Fair in 2008 as being "the only one of his children not directly competing for his business affections." She is also often overlooked — in a 1997 press conference, Rupert made a reference to his "three children," neglecting to include Prue. She is also often more politically outspoken than her siblings — even a little bit outrageous — due to her lack of connections in the family business.

Prudence "feels free enough to have morphed into the official Murdoch-family wing nut," Vanity Fair reported. "She gets away with saying what the others won't, even things that the others won't think, and she takes the various family members much less seriously than they do themselves."

Connor — the first of Logan's children and his only child from his first marriage — is also often overlooked by his father. He too has shied away from engaging with the family business and prefers to stay out of more messy negotiations. The night before his father's death, he tells his siblings off for competing for their father's affection, explaining that he doesn't need Logan's love — nor anyone's. Like Prudence, he also gets away with having more outside-the-box politics, although Connor's run for president on a platform of zero taxation might suggest a little bit more extremism than his real-life counterpart. Prudence's private life could be totally different than Connor's, but her public life does reflect a similar rejection of competition for Rupert's approval.

The second of the Murdoch children is the first from Rupert's second marriage to Anna Torv (a different Anna Torv from the actor who starred in "Fringe" and "Mindhunter"). As a child, Elisabeth gravitated more towards her father because she often butted heads with her mother, who was "formal" and cold. She is said to be "cunning" and "perhaps the most like Rupert" of her siblings, per CNN. For a while, she held a major position at the conglomerate, but her father grew unhappy with her public life and neglected to promote her as promised.

Elisabeth "has some things to work out," Murdoch told a reporter for The Guardian at the time (via Michael Wolff). "Currently it is their consensus that Lachlan will take over. He will be the first among equals, but they will all have to prove themselves first."

After that, Elisabeth decided to step outside of the company to make a name for herself. She found that the only way to truly get her father's approval was to strike out on her own — to "make your own pile," as Logan would say.

"You'd love your parents to be proud of you," she told The New Yorker in 2012. "Each time I tried to work in his company, he wasn't impressed. I realized I had to just go and be myself."

Like Elisabeth, Shiv is also said to be the most like Logan of her siblings. She, too, was promised a huge role at the company but saw it snatched away at the last second. She also tried to develop a self-made quality by going into politics in season 1 and seems to be doing it again by advocating Waystar's full sale and going after PGM in season 4. Just like Elisabeth, she has a tense relationship with her mother and was always closer to her father.

For a long time, Lachlan was being groomed to step up as CEO at his father's company. He became deputy Chief Operating Officer of News Corp. in 1999, but the job was ultimately little more than a title, Vanity Fair reported. Lachlan's responsibilities didn't extend beyond the New York Post and his authority was not respected elsewhere at the company. He was seen by his subordinates and peers as a nepotism hire and was not taken seriously.

Lachlan eventually left the company to strike out on his own, much like Elisabeth, but was inevitably brought back into the fold by his father — "a big slap in the face" to Murdoch's younger son, James, who became the heir apparent when Lachlan jumped ship, a source close to the family told Vanity Fair. The elder son eventually became CEO of Fox when his brother stepped down after the Disney sale in 2019.

Kendall is the failing-upward son of Logan, and just like Lachlan, he is the first son from his father's second marriage. Other people in the business world find Kendall to be an entitled daddy's boy — see his deal with Vaulter in the series premiere, or his phone call with Frank upon his father's death. He too was groomed for the top job for many years before defying his father and leaving Waystar several times — once in season 1, and again in season 3. Both times he is inevitably brought back, much to the dismay of his competitive siblings. Even after all his rebellion, he is named co-CEO following his father's death.

With Lachlan as a point of comparison, James gained a reputation for being much more like his father. The younger Murdoch son doesn't necessarily have a better handle on the business, he is only better at "emulating as some generic idea of the advanced business figure," Vanity Fair suggested.

James is far more left-leaning than his father and thoroughly rejects Fox News' far-right politics. He had plans to modernize Fox by "investing in prestige media brands like Hulu and the National Geographic channel," Vanity Fair reported. However, his politics put him at odds with Rupert.

Once the rest of the media empire was sold to Disney, James left the company for good. "There's no empire," a dejected James told The New York Times in 2020. "There's no future dynasty." James later launched a liberal-leaning media investment company called Lupa Systems, the name for which comes from one of the legendary she-wolves that raised the founder of Rome (and Roman Roy's namesake), Romulus.

Roman Roy also hoped to modernize his father's company. He was always the backup plan when Kendall's loyalties wavered, although he was third in line behind his sister. He is the most similar to his father in business but, like James, his acumen is only paper-thin.

"Roman feels as if he's capable of doing the job because he's seen his dad do it," Kieran Culkin said of his character to The Guardian in 2021. "Most of what Logan does is make fast decisions, then yell at people to do stuff. Roman wants to make the s***-f***ers do the work, rather than figure out how to do it himself."

Of course, Roman wanted to keep ATN in the Gojo sale, while James wanted nothing to do with Fox. James' politics are closer to Shiv's, but his attitude in the wake of the sale is oh-so Roman.

The sale of Waystar Royco to the contemporary streaming company GoJo is closely modeled after the sale of Fox to Disney. In both sales, Rupert and Logan carved out their most beloved (and toxic) asset — their right-wing news channels.

Just like 21st Century Fox, Waystar also includes a movie studio that the company can't afford. The old model of the media monolith struggled to compete with the sleek modernity of streamers and inevitably gave up the fight. The logic of the sale "made a lot of sense," Vanity Fair reported this year, in a quote that closely resembles what Logan tells his children on the eve of his death when they voice their doubts about the sale.

"What you kids don't realize, this is a good deal," he sighs. "The world likes it. It makes sense."

The Disney sale begot competition between James and Lachlan, just as it has inevitably caused a schism between the Roy siblings. Roman and Logan were the first to speak to the GoJo CEO about selling. Similarly, the Disney sale was orchestrated by Rupert and James. In both instances, the elder son rejoined the company in an attempt to reclaim control over an empire that was being sold out from under him.

Like Roman, James wanted to see the deal through, while Lachlan — like Kendall — felt Fox was being undervalued. James wanted to get out from under his father's shadow, while Lachlan seemed to be holding onto the idea of inheriting his entire kingdom. Sound familiar?

Of course, the Murdochs and the Roys aren't identical, but it's hard to imagine that all their commonalities are just coincidence, despite the "Succession" creator's claims that "it really isn't the Murdochs," per The Guardian in 2018. The truth is, the Roys are based on an amalgam of billionaire families — the Murdochs are just one (major) piece of the puzzle.