Succession is an American satirical comedy-drama television series developed by Jesse Armstrong, which aired on HBO from June 3, 2018, until May 28, 2023.

Succession follows the Roy family, which runs the worldwide media corporation Waystar RoyCo in New York City. Logan Roy, the family patriarch, has deteriorated in health. 

His four children, alienated oldest son Connor Roy, power-hungry Kendall Roy, irreverent Roman Roy, and politically savvy Siobhan ‘Shiv’ Roy, all with varied degrees of connection to the corporation, begin to plan for a future without their father and compete for prominence inside the company.

Brian Cox played the role of Logan Roy, Jeremy Strong portrayed Kendall, Kieran Culkin played the role of Roman, and Sarah Snook portrayed Shiv — all critically acclaimed for their role.

The HBO show was considered one of the best shows when it aired from 2018 to 2023. It gained critical acclaim for its narrative, acting, humor, musical score, direction, production qualities, and study of its subject matter spanning all four seasons.

The series has won several honors and nominations, including two Golden Globe nominations for Best Television Series – Drama, two Primetime Emmy nominations for Outstanding Drama Series in 2020 and 2022, and the British Academy Television Award for Best International Programme.

All in all, Succession was loved by fans and critics alike. That said, many might not know that the HBO show is based on a real family. So, which family is Succession based on? Well, Succession was based on the Murdoch family.

Which family is ‘Succession’ based on?

The Murdoch family members are notable multinational media magnates and tycoons with origins in Australia and the United Kingdom and media interests in the United States. Some members have also held positions of prominence in the arts, religion, and the military.

All in all, the Murdoch family has been the powerhouse for generations.

Rupert Murdoch, the star of the third generation of the Murdoch family, is best known as one of the founders and owner of News Corporation, the world’s largest media corporation until it was spun off in mid-2013, dividing its entertainment assets to 21st Century Fox and its media publishing holdings to establish the new News Corp. 

The Murdochs retain a majority interest in the remaining assets of The Walt Disney Company’s acquisition of 21st Century Fox, which were spun off to Fox Corporation, and continue to serve as senior executives of News Corporation. 

Rupert is well-known not just for his massive media empire but also for his fascinating marriage past. Murdoch has had four noteworthy marriages throughout the years.

His first marriage was to Patricia Booker, a Melbourne flight attendant. Their daughter, Prudence Murdoch MacLeod, was born as a result of their marriage.

Although this marriage lasted over a decade, it finally ended, laying the groundwork for Murdoch’s later marriages. Rupert then married Anna Maria Torv, a Scottish journalist of Estonian heritage.

Rupert Murdoch with his second wife and children. (Source: Instagram)

Torv, who worked for Murdoch’s Sydney Daily Telegraph, was an essential figure in his life for over three decades. The couple’s three children were Elizabeth Murdoch, Lachlan Murdoch, and James Murdoch.

Elisabeth has now risen to prominence in the media world, while Lachlan and James have also worked for their father’s media company. Rupert married Wendi Deng, a Chinese-American media executive and corporate director, in 1999 in a high-profile wedding. 

Grace Murdoch and Chloe Murdoch were the couple’s two kids. The marriage gained notice because of the significant age difference and its impact on Murdoch’s career and personal life.

The marriage, however, ended in 2013 when Rupert filed for divorce, citing irreconcilable differences. Rupert married Jerry Hall, an American model and actress, marking his fourth marriage.

Despite the early curiosity about their married life, the couple had difficulties, which led to their divorce in 2022.

Similarities between ‘Succession’ and the Murdoch family

Both families feature an aging patriarch who has worked at his firm far past the normal retirement age. Rupert, 92, went back into the post of Fox News chairman after the expulsion of the late Roger Ailes and currently serves as chairman of Fox Corporation. 

The two command vast media empires spanning television, cinema, publishing, and digital. Rupert is considered a ruthless businessman who fights competitors by buying them out or driving them out of business, similar to Logan in the HBO show.

Rupert and Logan have been married many times and have offspring from various relationships. A person close to the Murdoch family told Vanity Fair that Rupert felt a Darwinian battle would produce the most capable successor and put his children against each other throughout their childhood, just like Logan did in the series.

The most obvious visual similarity between Rupert and Logan happened in the final season when Logan’s lecture about paper boxes echoed a similar occasion when Rupert delivered a speech about boxes to the WSJ office in 2007.

Since Rupert has a lot of children, it isn’t easy to see who Connor, Kendall, Roman, and Shiv are based on. Connor is believed to be based on Rupert’s eldest child, Prudence.

Prudence is an Australian-British media sector, non-executive director. She has held many executive positions in her father’s News Corporation and presently serves on the board of Times Newspapers Ltd, a part of News Corporation.

Prudence and Connor are the patriarchs’ eldest children. Both are only children from prior marriages, and both are disinterested in working in the family company.

Connor is the “forgotten” kid in Succession, as he is frequently kept out of the Roy brothers’ transactions. Kendall refers to himself as “the eldest son” in a scene from season three before being corrected by an enraged Connor, who claims he is Logan’s eldest son.

While there is no proof that Prudence had the same treatment as her Murdoch siblings, it is reported that Prudence disagreed with her father, Rupert, when he referred to his ‘three children’ by excluding Prudence in a 1997 news conference.

Prudence revealed that she and her father argued over the event on the phone until Rupert apologized by sending “the biggest bunch of flowers – it was bigger than a sofa – and two clementine trees.”

Kendall, Roman, and Shiv are believed to be based on Rupert’s children from his second marriage — Lachlan, James, and Elizabeth.

Lachlan was the business’s initial heir apparent, but he unexpectedly left amid internal differences over the cable news network’s future. It is reported that Lachlan spent some time working on his own company, Illyria, before returning to the family business as a non-executive co-chairman of News Corporation and 21st Century Fox.

Similarly, on Succession, Kendall is groomed to take over his father’s business – until Logan changes his mind. Throughout the four seasons of the sitcom, Kendall attempts multiple unsuccessful hostile takeovers of his father’s empire before leaving to create his firms, only to return to the family business later.

Murdoch’s youngest son, James, was considered the heir apparent when his elder brother, Lachlan, resigned in 2005. In 2011, James was named deputy COO of News Corporation, a post identical to Roman in the first season of Succession.

However, he finally stepped down from the position in 2020 due to conflicts over editorial material. On the HBO show, Roman’s biography follows a similar trend: he is not initially a candidate to take over his father’s firm until his elder brother Kendall departs it.

He would work closely with his father until finally abandoning the firm and attempting to take over with his siblings.

Like Shiv, Rupert’s only daughter from his second marriage is Elisabeth. Elisabeth is the most similar to Rupert, sharing his cunning and savviness.

However, Rupert is said to disdain her ambitions to advance in the family firm. On the HBO show, Shiv shares a close connection with her father. She, like Kendall, was offered the position of CEO but was ultimately considered unprepared to take on the post.

Shiv is publically shut down by her father in various instances during the program, leaving it unclear whether Logan considered her a viable candidate for the top position in the first place.

While the Succession showrunners may deny that the drama is modeled on any one family, the parallels between the fictitious Roy family and the Murdoch family are difficult to ignore.