The Real-Life Family Succession’s Roy Clan is Based Off Of

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.