The Best Negotiators On Succession, Ranked

This post contains spoilers for "Succession" Season 4 and all previous seasons.

Amongst the wild slate of prestige television offerings, "Succession" stands out as a special flavor of thrilling. The show, loosely based on the lives of several real-life media family entities, expertly traverses the world and internal politics of empire management. The show is currently in its fourth and final season, and as we get closer to the end, I have a burning question: Which character is the best negotiator?

Be warned, this isn't going to be a list of the best characters, the most ruthless and evil characters, or even the shadiest characters (and nearly all of them are shady.) Instead, we will be taking a critical look at the characters' skills as negotiators. Who has the highest emotional intelligence? Who is the best communicator? Who is the master strategist and thus best equipped to wade through the cutthroat corporate culture of Waystar RoyCo? Let's find out.

Connor Roy, the eldest of the Roy children, sits at the bottom of the list. This black sheep of the family takes great pride in his lack of involvement in the internal workings of Waystar, so he'd probably be thrilled at his position on this list — when he really shouldn't be.

Connor demonstrates numerous qualities found in good negotiators. He has enough emotional intelligence to detach himself from the family drama whenever possible. He's a very idealistic and creative thinker. He even possesses the grit and determination to know what he wants, communicate what he wants, and get what he wants. That said, two fatal flaws that fuse together hilariously land him at the bottom of this list: his absolute lack of radar when it comes to his power and leverage, and a nasty habit of whining his way into what he desires. Connor claims to be above it all, yet he keeps returning to his siblings, trying to secure their support for his oftentimes useless ambitions. Connor is absolutely unaware of how completely reliant he is on his family name to support his lavish lifestyle. Also, woe betide anyone who tells Connor his lifestyle isn't lavish, because he is too unaware to even understand that. Connor Roy is a beggar, nagger, and leech, and power-hungry in his own way — while being completely illiterate about what options are within his power.

This young man – the great-nephew of Logan Roy and first cousin once removed to the Roy siblings — starts his journey as an innocent cherub recently fired for being high at work. So he calls his mom, who tells him to use his pedigree to find himself a job at Waystar.

Greg exhibits reasonable discomfort with the entire culture of constant political deceit at Waystar and finds himself under the abusive foot of Tom Wambsgans, husband of Siobhan Roy. We see Greg become more and more powerful as a negotiator in large part thanks to his endless desire for belonging and acceptance from the Roy family. Greg becomes uncannily good at maneuvering through complex situations because he's enough of a family member to be in the room for important conversations, but not enough to be considered an immediate threat until he stammers out a clumsy blackmail threat. Greg is much more capable than Connor but also has a fatal flaw. Greg does not know how to communicate his needs. While still able to self-advocate, every negotiation feels like a rhetorical torture session of cringe.

Now, Greg is my favorite character. I love him to death. But he's the emotional manifestation of a pratfall.

Speaking of pratfalls, let's talk about Roman Roy, the youngest and most chaotic of the Roy siblings. He is a shameless masochist with a fetish for the suffering and humiliation of others and himself. Anyone beneath him in any way becomes an object of ridicule, and like his father, he will bully his way into securing a deal.

Roman has shown himself to be extremely intuitive and capable at Waystar, and he can often instantly dissect exactly what's happening in any given business situation. He is also a very direct communicator. Roman does not have a fatal flaw, unlike the entries beneath him. Instead, he can claim a giant grocery story party tray of flaws. He'll fire people on a whim, giving them every opportunity to retaliate harshly in the process. I did just say he's a direct communicator, but he is also a weak communicator, especially when called out on his failures or inaction. He does not care how much trouble his impulsiveness gets the company in and will try to shrug off literally any tragedy. Despite good instincts, he's too arrogant or aloof to do his homework before any negotiation, and that can prove disastrous for Waystar.

Kendall Roy, the second oldest son of the patriarch, desperately tries to present himself as a well-adjusted financial maverick. This man thinks he's an absolute visionary genius, with extreme emphasis on the word "thinks." When it comes to business, Kendall ascribes religiously to the notion that everyone has a number. When conducting negotiations with him, you can expect a strategy of brute force via numbers.

An imaginative and creative thinker, Kendall willingly takes incredible risks while simultaneously looking for advantageous angles. Unlike his younger brother, Kendall always obsessively, chronically studies the environment and theorizes what levers he needs to pull to find success. Kendall will never settle for less than he believes he's worth in any negotiation. No is never an answer for him. When it appears to be, expect to get harassed into a concession or a betrayal. Kendall is good at instinct but lacks the tact of the two other involved siblings and approaches every negotiation with the same strategy of arrogantly shouting numbers until he hits upon a yes. This leads to him often giving away too much money. Wound his ego, and he'll inflate it even more until it either blows up in your face or his face.

Tom is Siobhan Roy's husband, formerly Greg's boss, and the in-law most determined to devour a thick chunk of the Roy power pie. Over the course of the show, Tom makes many sneaky and desperate moves to increase his proximity to the Roys' prestige, even becoming a double agent for Logan himself and a roadblock for the siblings' schemes.

The thing that sets Tom apart from the cast is that he'll happily sacrifice the most for a taste of power. A clout chaser of the highest degree, Tom will be the first to raise his hand when a superior suggests they need to make a ritual blood sacrifice. But Tom's no lackey. Offering to test the food for poison is the way he plays the game and builds rapport, and he's playing to win. That said, his willingness to do everything is also a weakness because everybody sees what he's doing and nobody respects him for it. Additionally, he does not know how to stay cool under pressure. When Tom senses danger, he hits the panic button. Every time. This man expects respect while having done nothing respectable. He clearly sees the angles, but he plays them like a coward.

Next on the list lies another in-law, but one in a much more powerful position than even Tom. We don't see her as often as some of the other secondary characters on this list, but when present, she is powerful. I'm speaking of Logan Roy's third wife, Marcia.

Marcia is characterized by an extreme devotion to her husband, and in the first season, acts as almost a literal bodyguard against the children's schemes. She effortlessly fends off Logan's enemies and understands completely how to do it. That said, we see her true talents in later seasons when she manages to secure immediate and complete leverage over Logan, securing lasting wealth for her and her children as retribution for his public affair with another executive. There are a few holes in Marcia's negotiation style. While her perception of power dynamics and her leverage is top-tier, her cold aggressiveness tends to create unwanted chaos, and that's an understatement.

It is time to talk about Logan Roy, the spitfire patriarch of not only his family but the entire Waystar enterprise. This man was the sun, and everyone else merely orbited him. As far as his presence in the show, he seemed less like a human and more like an entitled demigod, dishing out tooth-clenching pain with every aged utterance and bewildering fit of sudden fury. But even a demigod has his limits. The man was old. His health often seemed precarious. Even after his passing, his imposing legacy still haunts the organization from beyond the grave.

Logan's lived experience was an invaluable asset that he carried with him everywhere. Equal parts stubborn and perceptive, Logan could shift his attitude to suit the situation and secure what he needs. Logan thoroughly understood the mechanics of maintaining a healthy business relationship, and singlehandedly managed the entire intricate web of relationships in the Waystar RoyCo conglomerate. That said, he was a hothead, always complaining, senile, and defiant. He believed so firmly in demonstrating his own strength that when his weaknesses forced him into vulnerable positions, his fear of those weaknesses leading to his downfall became a self-fulfilling prophecy for Waystar.

This next inclusion on the list might surprise you. Willa Ferreyra arrives in the show as an escort of Connor Roy, and their relationship begins as one-sided and quite possibly remains one-sided even after their marriage. Her bond with Connor is incredibly strange because on one hand she is definitely in it for power and on the other hand it has become the healthiest romance in the show.

Willa has grown exponentially as a negotiator. She started off as a hanger-on to Connor, who emotionally manipulated her into leaving the city she loves to live in a mansion in the middle of nowhere. Yet, in Season 4, she's become an expert in her own right of negotiation, often taking a stand for Connor in small, but not insignificant ways. I wouldn't say they make a good team, because Connor is ... Connor. That said, I recognize similarities in the role Willa currently plays for Connor with the role Marcia played for Logan, and Willa is nowhere near as toxically abrasive in her communication. Not yet, anyway.

Shiv, the only daughter of Logan Roy, wields a lust for power that conflicts with her individual passions. She possesses great leadership instincts and is an excellent creative strategist who ends up out of her depth due to the fierceness of her ambition. Unlike many of the entries before her, Siobahn capably and fearlessly expresses caution. She is also a master manipulator.

Out of all the Roys, Shiv ranks as the most powerful negotiator. She actively rejects the family's brute force strategies and ideologies about strength, and this flexibility of thought allows her to make actual connections that even cross political lines. Shiv shows so much potential that leaders of other major conglomerates personally request to only see her during negotiations. Yet, her own family leaves her out of important conversations and expects her to settle for less over and over again. This woman screams — internally — all the time. Say what you will about her brutal, intensely messy and toxic relationship with Tom, Shiv has the grit, wit, and ambition to take it all. The only thing in her way? That pesky glass ceiling.

Lukas Matsson serves as the CEO of GoJo, a streaming platform that Waystar casts an eye toward acquiring towards the end of season 3. He emerges as the main business target of Season 4, as Waystar becomes more desperate to modernize its public persona. After Logan Roy's untimely death, the family learns that this tech billionaire is a crafty customer emboldened by the patriarch's absence.

Matsson is like a Frankenstein's monster of Mark Zuckerberg and Jeff Bezos. He embodies the quirky, quiet ruthlessness of the modern tech sector CEO. He has so much money and is so comfortable in his status that he doesn't share the same negotiation style as any Roy. Matsson does not have the burden of maintaining an established family dynasty, and in his negotiations, he calmly asserts that he'll do what he wants. Shows of force don't even faze him, and I can't say the same for a majority of the characters on this list. That said, being an anomaly makes him a terrible communicator. He's aloof to the point where it insults other leaders, and while that isn't great, it's still relatively minor compared to the many overly ambitious and desperate entries beneath him.

As Season 2 begins, Logan announces that Waystat will take over Pierce Global Media, and that means the story revolves around dealing with its CEO, Rhea Jarrell, as well as the Pierce Family, a direct foil to the Roys. Rhea gets the opportunity to truly show her self-preservation skills once the deal falls through and she's fired.

An incredibly tactful negotiator, Rhea forms a close romantic relationship with the devil himself, Logan Roy. As a former media conglomerate CEO, she immediately becomes the number one contender to inherit the Waystar throne, and Logan intends to hand this down to her directly. She is a leader that even Logan deeply respects, and she carefully assesses Waystar's public image as she preps for the role. The thing that truly makes her stand out? Her transparency about her suspicions. This makes her one of the show's most formidable forces because, while the other characters would rather hide the skeletons, she can actually commit to drawing a line in the sand and walking away.

Gerri served as the general legal counsel of Waystar. This meant it was technically her job to be the organization's best negotiator. Gerri could always be counted on to offer multiple ideas and perspectives on any given situation. And, as a legal advisor, she knowledgeably commented on the potential risks of any radical executive decision.

She really was everything you could want in a negotiator. She did her homework. She didn't resist compromise. She understood her worth. She knew precisely what to do to destroy you if you crossed her. That said, Gerri was not ambitious to the point that she ended up in a precarious position, though that didn't stop Roman from firing her. Her thorough understanding of power and dependency — and how to use it — will likely come into play again. This was evident even in her romantic relationships. When assessing the power of Waystar's executive team, Jerri was the engine.

At first, this seems like a strange pick for the number one spot. How can a tertiary character from Season 2 be the most powerful negotiator on "Succession?" Pretty easily if you think about it. We've discussed the CEO of Pierce Global Media, and now let's discuss the owner, Nan, the matriarch of the Pierce family, and as ruthless a negotiator as she is faux empathetic — and the worst of the show's horrible rich people.

Like Logan, she is very principled and experienced. Unlike Logan, she remains as sharp as a tack and does not act like a tyrant. She has an acute understanding of what her media organization is designed to represent, and she already knows where her line is. She's also incredibly adept at picking apart the internal conflicts of those she's negotiating with and playing both sides to her benefit. Nan Pierce is a force that Waystar itself tried — and failed — to reckon with.