Who are the Real-life Models of “Succession” Characters?

Truth is stranger than fiction because fiction has to make sense

As outlandish and fantastical Succession can get, there are real life parallels with its plot and characters. Some of these inspirations, I daresay, can be even more outrageous than the Roys themselves. Here are several of them discussed below. Beware of spoilers.

Logan Roy

History is full of larger-than-life business patriarchs, even if the focus is narrowed down to the media sector. Conrad Black, Robert Maxwell, and William Randolph Hearst are a few unethical magnates who make up this list.

Other direct parallels include Sumner Redstone. Redstone was a self-made billionaire who grew his father’s theater chain into ViacomCBS. His empire was built with aggressive dominance, through numerous lawsuits and take-no-prisoner leadership style. Redstone remained executive chairman for both CBS and Viacom until he was 92, but not before embarrassing his family with his business decisions and aging behavior: demands to eat steak on a feeding tube, escorts visiting his mansion, sleeping and drooling during meetings. I wrote a much longer examination of Sumner Redstone’s dysfunctional relationships with his family here.

Sumner Redstone also took out several loans on his family’s holding company (National Amusements) that were linked to the stocks of his companies, which were embarrassingly hidden from and belatedly disclosed to shareholders in 2008. While Logan took out $3 billion to save his parks, Sumner took out $1.6 billion to unsuccessfully save his video games.

Another inspiration is Michael Eisner, who was formerly CEO of Disney. Before Eisner joined Disney in 1984, Disney cultivated a leisurely environment despite its financial woes. Executives played cards after lunch every day, and working into evenings and weekends was considered so unorthodox that a security investigation was launched when a newly-brought executive did.

Eisner brought with him a handful of talented executives, alternative business strategies, and creativity to Disney. He tended to hire employees to the same business position to encourage competition. While the first couple years of Eisner’s tenure was marked with innovation and efficiency, it slowly churned Disney into a culture of corporate politicking and backstabbing. Eisner would pit employees against each other while he would constantly belittle them behind their backs: “little midget” (Jeffrey Katzenberg), “Shiite muslim” (Steve Jobs), “cancer”/ “psychopath” (Michael Ovitz).

Jesse Armstrong has said the vote of no confidence is partially based on Disney’s Annual Shareholder’s Meeting of 2004, when shareholders stripped Eisner’s title of chairman. This real-life inspiration may even play into season 3 when Logan will face down his own shareholders.

The bear hug in season 1 reflects Comcast’s attempt at a hostile takeover on Disney in February 2004. Brian Roberts, CEO and owner of Comcast, dialed Eisner to inform him, only to be hung up five minutes into the call. This flabbergasted Roberts, who expected a more professional response in the post-Enron era of heightened fiduciary duty to shareholders.

The cruise scandals in season 2 mirror allegations of covering up molestations by cruise employees, as well as criticism of how Disney handled its investigation of Rebecca Coriam’s disappearance.

The largest inspiration is Rupert Murdoch, which is unsurprising considering the fact that Succession is based off of a script that Jesse Armstrong wrote about the Murdoch family.

Despite his Australian origin, Murdoch’s ancestry is Scottish. He took his father’s Australian newspaper company and grew it into a global propaganda machine. It’s no secret that Murdoch wields his influence in political events, and world leaders across the political spectrum have lined up to appease him or face the consequences of spurned billionaire — as the Labour and Tory parties have both learned the hard way.

Like Logan, Murdoch is ruthlessly self-aware, self-serving, and unapologetic. Harvey Golub of the Wall Street Journal was worried for his ultraconservative editorials when Rupert Murdoch bought Dow Jones, because Murdoch was known as a pragmatic instead of an ideologue.

During the 2016 presidential elections, Murdoch, who originally found Donald Trump too idiotic, personally reached out to Hillary Clinton and offered to use Fox News for her support. Unlike Gil Eavis, Clinton turned down the offer.

Murdoch also has a complicated relationship with his children. Reportedly, attempts at family therapy have imploded. When Murdoch severely injured his back due to an accident on his son’s super yacht, he had to be airlifted to a hospital: this event caused many of his children to reflect their roles within News Corp and their family, such as James Murdoch deciding to stop working for his father.

Connor Roy

Trust fund babies exist in real life, and Connor is the staple of the richest 1% who are out of touch with the common man. At least in America, Dan Bilzerian is the most infamous out of the bunch: a playboy known for his lavish lifestyle in Las Vegas, association with sex workers, and his failed presidential bid in 2016.

Following that note, there are many wealthy men who have run for president despite no background in public service: Andrew Jackson, Tom Steyer, Steve Forbes, Ross Perot, and Donald Trump. Connor Roy’s flat tax is ripped directly from Steve Forbes’ libertarian platform.

In the Murdoch family, Connor resembles Prudence Murdoch, the firstborn and only child of Murdoch’s first wife. She is also considered the black sheep of the family. Prudence is the only sibling who never vied for the role of successor in the family business.

Kendall Roy

Kendall Roy is definitely inspired by James Murdoch. Other articles have compared Kendall to Donald Trump Jr. and Lachlan Murdoch, who is the oldest and considered the favorite son of Rupert Murdoch, but that’s where the similarities end.

James Murdoch was also a student at Harvard, where he worked as an editor on the Harvard Lampoon. He later dropped out to start a hip hop records label (Rawkus Records). Afterwards, he eventually joined News Corp, frequently butting heads against his brother Lachlan.

There was a point in time when James was supposed to be officially announced as the successor to the company (with heavy media speculation), which his father Rupert decided to rescind at the last moment.

James was also heavily involved with the global side of the company. Another similar interest to note is technology and art, and investments by James’ new company Lupa Systems reflect this.

When James’ attempts at an acquisition of British Sky Broadcasting were thwarted by News Corp scandals, his family (and the British government) also shifted the blame on him, privately and publicly.

James is also notable for being liberal, a stark contrast to his brother and father. He pushed to reform Fox News to be more impartial, and went out of his way to express sympathy for his employees: during Trump’s immigration ban from the Middle East he sought to send memos to Muslim employees expressing the company’s support, which Rupert and Lachlan did not want to do.

Lastly, James also left News Corp and has condemned his father’s company as a negative cultural influence.

Ted Kennedy is also a minor inspiration due to the Chappaquiddick incident. Like Kendall, he escaped drowning after a car accident but was unable to rescue a young woman with him. He returned to the party and alerted the authorities the next day. Whether his rich family pulled strings or not, Ted only had his driving license suspended for several months and served no jail time.

Roman Roy

Honestly Kieran Culkin is more responsible for the character of Roman Roy more than anyone else. Based on the pilot, however, Roman was inspired by Lachlan Murdoch.

Lachlan, like Roman, rage quit News Corp after what some in the family call a conspiracy by executives. Lachlan’s inexperience grated against older executives, especially Roger Ailes. This is one of the reasons why Lachlan and James Murdoch, despite their intense sibling rivalry, were united in pushing Roger Ailes out of Fox News after sexual harassment accusations.

Lachlan Murdoch has returned to work for the family company and won out the title of successor against his brother James. Currently he is the co-chairman of News Corp, and the top man at Fox News.

Shiv Roy

Shibhan Roy is based on Elisabeth Murdoch.

Compared to her brothers, Elisabeth is considered the smartest of her siblings. She was also by far the most independently successful Murdoch sibling, having created her own company Shine Group which was bought by her father’s company.

Just after a year of giving birth to her second child with Vassar classmate Elkin Pianim, she began an affair with Matthew Freud, the great-grandson of Sigmund Freud. Their affairs were highlighted by British tabloids much to the embarrassment and disapproval of her father.

On another angle, Shibhan Roy can resemble Shari Redstone. Shari is the chosen heir and daughter of Sumner Redstone. Shari pushed back against her father’s terrible business decisions, which culminated to Sumner calling his own daughter a cunt in public meetings. Ultimately Shari won: she is now the CEO of ViacomCBS.

Marcia Roy

Marcia Roy is an obvious nod to Wendi Deng Murdoch, who is Rupert Murdoch’s third wife. The most obvious similarities between the two are their foreignness. Like Marcia, Wendi is an exotic outsider who originally worked at the Chinese Star TV. But there are other nods to Marcia’s real life inspiration, notably her involvement in the business and her mysterious past.

Unlike Murdoch’s second wife, Anna Murdoch, Wendi did not urge him to work less and spend more time at home. Wendi further differentiated herself by venturing directly into News Corp’s business. She worked as a consultant at the Chinese end of MySpace as well as tried to start up a production company with Ziyi Zhang.

The WSJ investigated Wendi Deng’s past and portrayed her as a deeply ambitious woman who was willing to sleep her way to the top. She broke up the marriage of her host family sponsoring her visa, married her host father long enough to get a green card, then had an affair with someone closer to her age who she called “husband” although she was still married to her host father.

The Murdoch children (specifically Lachlan and James) were united in their distaste for Wendi Deng, and fought hard to stem her influence over their father. Intelligence analysts in USA and UK have warned Lachlan and James Murdoch of their suspicions that Wendi was operating as a Chinese spy. These concerns would be raised again to Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump.

Rupert and Wendi would divorce in 2013, over rumors that Wendi was carrying on an affair with British Prime Minister Tony Blair.

Greg Hirsch

Believe it or not, the bumbling nephew is a real trope in the business world. The pretense of stupidity also isn’t original either — Claudius did it centuries ago — but Greg comes off as genuinely naïve and in over his head. There are signs of cunning, however: Greg plots to move himself up in the world via sucking up to his great uncle and trying to get a board seat as a representative of his grandfather.

The most telling aspect of Greg’s character is how he responded to his grandfather’s ultimatum: continue working for Waystar Royco or lose out $5 million from his grandfather’s will. Greg’s decision speaks for his diligence and avarice, his belief in personal initiative and self-improvement over entitlement and laziness.

In this way he resembles Roy E. Disney. Dismissed by his uncle Walt Disney as the “idiot nephew,” Roy often worked behind the scenes in the animation department, often overshadowed by louder executives such as Jeffrey Katzenberg. Yet idiot he was not. While he was never the CEO, Roy successfully spearheaded two boardroom coups: first with his cousin-in-law Ron Miller, then with the infamous Michael Eisner. His decisions have saved Disney twice, from an economical perspective at least.

Gerri Killman and Frank Vernon

It is no secret that Gerri and Frank were loosely modeled on News Corp employees: Gerson Zweifach and Peter Chernin, respectively.

Zweifach rose through the ranks during the News Corp phone-hacking scandal, and during his time as general counsel was one of the most well compensated lawyers of his time.

Chernin originally worked in television, and he is primarily credited with the success of News Corp’s entertainment ventures in film, sports, and cable. He was one of the executives who pushed back against Lachlan Murdoch’s business decisions, and ultimately he stepped out of his role as COO for James Murdoch in 2009.

If this metaphor extends to News Corp executives, Cyd Peach is Roger Ailes (founder and CEO of Fox News) and Karl would be David DeVoe (CFO of News Corp).

Yet despite the similarities, the characters of Waystar Royco’s executives were mostly influenced by the actors playing them, and it would be a disservice to exclude them. The skeletal infrastructure were in place from real-life sources, but the meats were animated by J. Smith Cameron and Peter Friedman.

Nan and Naomi Pierce

Reportedly the Pierces are drawn from a collection of “reputable, blue-blood, northeastern, legacy media families” such as the Grahams (Washington Post), Sulzbergers (New York Times), and Bancrofts (Wall Street Journal).

As of 2020, the only media-operating family left is the Sulzbergers. The Grahams sold their assets to Jeff Bezos, and The Bancrofts sold Dow Jones to Rupert Murdoch.

Interestingly, there is a healthy collection of blue-blooded media mogul matriarchs such as Katherine Graham and Jessie Bancroft Cox. Both were impressive women. Katherine was the first female CEO to make the Fortune 500 list, and Jessie was the first American woman to judge a hackney horse competition in England.

An inspiration for Naomi Pierce could be Elisabeth Goth of the Bancroft family. She was essentially considered the “step-granddaughter” to the Bancroft family and didn’t even meet her richer cousins until her twenties. In the interim throughout her adolescent years, she embarrassed her mother for experimenting with heroin and cocaine, resulting in multiple visits to rehab. The deaths of her grandfather and mother gave her enormous influence over the family trust, and Elisabeth unsuccessfully pushed for her family to sell the assets of Dow Jones to Warren Buffet. Although the family refused to sell then, Elisabeth helped bring up the idea as a real possibility.

Continuing this analogy would make Richard Zannino into Rhea Jarrell. While Zannino was not close to the Bancrofts, he did meet with Rupert Murdoch twice, in secret, before Murdoch made his bid for the Dow Jones. Zannino also offended most of the Bancrofts by strongly encouraging them to sell, making some of them think (not incorrectly) that he was trying to cash in and leave only two years in his role as CEO.

Michelle Pantsel

Biographers of powerful men have faced a litany of obstacles to get their works published. It’s no secret that Roger Ailes became incredibly paranoid when Gabriel Sherman began his biography on him. Robert Caro, a Pulitzer-writing journalist responsible for bringing down Robert Moses’ legacy, also encountered barriers during his research into one of the most infamously powerful men of New York City.

Jamie Laird

Jimmy Bainbridge Lee, Jr. is one of the most legendary investment bankers who worked on some incredible leveraged buyouts in history. He’s credited with a number of financial innovations and building the syndicated loan market. He became vice chairman of JPMorgan Chase & Company, as well as Co-Chairman of JPMorgan’s investment bank.

So extraordinary was his reputation that at one point he was the only investment banker allowed in the Allen & Company Sun Valley Conference (which itself is the inspiration for the Argestes retreat). A few of his accomplishments include overseeing News Corp’s acquisition of Dow Jones and Comcast’s acquisition of Time Warner Cable.

Eduard Asgarov

On the surface, Eduard seems to be a stand in for a Saudi Arabian investor, and much of the events taken in Turkey in the show are based on political events in Saudi Arabia.

He is probably a culmination of foreign investors. The “300-year investing horizons” are inspired by Masoyoshi Son’s 300 year plan. But Eduard’s surname and Azerbaijani background calls to Emin Agalarov, whose father is an oligarch with ties to the Russian mafia. Succession’s reference to “my president’s daughter’s husband” is actually Emin himself, who is married to Leyla Aliyeva. Recently, Emin and his father allegedly worked as liasions between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin, which may be a wink to future Succession plot points.

Gil Eavis

Gil Eavis is an obvious parallel to Bernie Sanders, which extends to his appearance and beliefs.

While Gil Eavis never calls himself a socialist, others make comments to his heavily leftist stances, particularly the focus on income inequality and corporatism. As controversial as this may be for his supporters, Bernie can also struggle to deal with criticism and confrontation, and many in Washington look down on him as a media hog.

It will be interesting to see how Eavis plays out in future seasons. Regardless of the political orientation of the writers, Eavis is not portrayed as a hero much like anybody else in the show.

On similar note, Joyce Miller may be based on Hillary Clinton. Both were senators from New York, and both are viewed as “a bitch.” Or, as Shiv puts it: too fake, but simultaneously frightfully competent. ATN’s fixture on the Miller’s husband’s nude photos may also be a nod to Anthony Weiner’s sexting scandals. Weiner’s wife, Huma Abedin, is also a political staffer to Clinton.