6 times Rupert Murdoch's life mirrored Logan Roy and Succession

Viewers of the hit show Succession will be well aware of the comparisons people draw between the show's main character, Logan Roy, and real-life media boss Rupert Murdoch.

With media empires with similar outlooks and politics and scenes that seem eerily like real life events, there are times when life imitates art and art imitates life.

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Indeed, a new Vanity Fair report has even claimed that Murdoch’s son Lachlan accused his brother, James, of leaking lines to the writers of the HBO show, though another source close to Lachlan denied that he told his father this. Writer Jesse Armstrong has insisted the family is "fictional".

Nevertheless, below, we look at the parallels between the media mogul and the character:

1. Standing on paper boxes to speak to staff

In season 4, episode 2, Logan stood on paper boxes to deliver a speech to the staff at his TV network ATN.

Fictional? Well in 2007, Murdoch stood on paper boxes to address staff at the Wall Street Journal.

2. The issue of succession

In Succession, the family frequently meets up to discuss who will get the family's empire when Logan passes away. In one episode, they even have group therapy.

Vanity Fair claims that in 2011, the Murdochs met with a family therapist to discuss "the issue of succession". The Times has also reported the family had a session in London with a therapist who specialises in working with dynastic families. There was even a rumoured therapeutic retreat to the Murdoch ranch in Australia.

3. Family dynamics

Both Logan Roy and Rupert Murdoch have children from multiple marriages who are involved in the family business which involves huge media corporations that have political and societal influence in the US. This mix of business and family causes tension.

"He pitted his kids against each other their entire lives. It’s sad,” a person close to the family said according to Vanity Fair.

There are also reports of sibling rivalry in the Murdoch dynasty and we certainly see this in Succession.

4. Politics

He previously campaigned against him but when Trump became president, Murdoch waged used Fox News to support him. His UK papers backed both Margaret Thatcher and Tony Blair.

In Succession, we similarly see Logan flip-flop politically and carefully consider which politicians he should support to best protect his business interests.

5. Health

When Logan suffers from heart problems in series one and gets tired on long walks in other series, the family use PR campaigns to protect his image and insist he is well enough to run the business.

Murdoch has also had health problems that have largely been kept out of the public eye. For instance, Vanity Fair reports that a source said in recent years, Murdoch has suffered a broken back, seizures, two bouts of pneumonia, atrial fibrillation, and a torn Achilles tendon, which were unreported in the press at the time.

6. Deals

Disney’s $71.3 billion purchase of the film and TV assets held by 21st Century Fox in 2019 was similar to Lukas Matson’s attempts to swallow up Waystar Royco, a story which has yet to be resolved on Succession at the time of writing.

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