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| The billionaire family whose lavish life inspired the popular TV show Succession |
One of the most popular TV series of recent years 'Succession' has finally come to an end. For four seasons, viewers watched as Logan Roy's children battled to inherit the estate their father built over decades of hard work.
The creators of the series managed to weave a web of intrigue, betrayal, and dark comedy into the story in such a way that it earned the series 13 Emmy Awards during its first three seasons and is likely to win all the awards in 2023. can wipe out
One of the major reasons for Succession's success is its closeness to reality as some of its plots are based on real-life stories.
Jesse Armstrong, the creator of the hit TV show 'Succession', has never hidden the fact that Logan Roy and other characters in his story are inspired by real billionaire media families.
In a promotional interview for the series, he said, 'We did a lot of research for Succession. We think of a lot of famous media families and then like all creative people, you take inspiration from the different types of relationships you have or have had in your life to create a hit television series.'
The BBC examines some of the billionaire families that led to the movement for 'succession'.
The Murdoch family
Ever since the first series aired, many have drawn parallels between the Roy family and Fox News billionaire owner Rupert Murdoch.
Murdoch, 92, has spent years trying to define which of his two sons, James or Lachlan, should succeed him.
It is a major news company with branches in Australia, UK, and USA. He owns various brands such as the leading economic daily Wall Street Journal, the English tabloid The Sun, and the publishing company HarperCollins.
And this war of succession has become so common that influential media houses like the New York Times or The New York Magazine have published reports about the strained relationship between the two brothers and their father.
Business media say the multimillion-dollar sale of Fox's film studios to Disney in 2016 was promoted by James Murdoch against the wishes of his brother Lachlan, who wanted to retain that part of the business.
On the other hand, James has been openly criticizing the editorial stance taken during the Donald Trump administration on Fox News.
Such was his disagreement that in 2020 he resigned from News Corporation's board of directors, clearly stating that 'my resignation is based on some editorial material published by the company's news media, as well as some It is due to disagreement with strategic decisions.'
The Herts family
Another obvious inspiration for the series creators was the Hearst family, which according to Forbes magazine was worth US$21,000 million in 2021.
He owns TV networks such as the San Francisco Chronicles, Esquire Magazine, ESPN, and A Plus E.
The Hearst family business began in 1887 when William Randolph Hearst acquired the San Francisco Daily Examiner from his father and turned it into a large holding with more than 20 million readers by purchasing other publications under the Hearst Corporation brand.
During the 1920s and 1930s, the Hearst Corporation became the largest media conglomerate in the world, using its diaries to try to influence the politicians of the day.
The Mercers family
In a world of lavish luxury and 'succession', Roy is not alone. The series' creators took advantage of the secondary characters to include more references to America's famous families.
The Mercer family, for example, inspired one of the series' families to become the most influential in the growing world of online media.
Robert Mercer is a billionaire who made his fortune investing in the stock market. He has devoted himself to funding the Republican Party in recent years (he donated more than $25 million to Donald Trump's 2016 campaign).
Moreover, Robert and his daughter Rebecca have a direct investment in Breitbart, one of the most viewed right-wing news portals in America.
The Sulzberger family
The creators of the series did not refer only to conservative families. In 2019, Vanity Fair magazine noted how the family that owns the New York Times newspaper has been the inspiration for one of Roy's rivals in 'Succession'.
The newspaper began its journey in 1878 with Adolf Ochs and today, five generations later, it is still in the hands of the same family.
Sulzberger was promoted to the paper's editor-in-chief in 2016.
As shown in the series, The New York Times has expanded greatly in recent years. In 2022, the company reported that it had reached 10 million users.