LIFE IMITATING ART

‘Succession’ Episode Inspired Murdoch Kids to Plan for Rupert’s Death

The death of patriarch Logan Roy dies apparently hit close to home.

Rupert Murdoch’s kids were inspired to start planning for his death thanks to an episode of the hit HBO show Succession, The New York Times reported. Near the beginning of the show’s final season, family patriarch Logan Roy dies, plunging his global media company—and his family—into chaos. After the episode aired in April 2023, Murdoch’s children began secretly discussing a public-relations strategy for after their father’s death, according to testimony that emerged during a legal battle over the future of the 93-year-old’s conservative media empire, which includes Fox News, The Wall Street Journal, and the New York Post. In 2006, Murdoch created an irrevocable trust giving his four oldest children—Prudence, Elisabeth, Lachlan, and James—control of the business. Recently, though, Rupert and Lachlan Murdoch brought a legal action to amend the trust to give Lachlan, who is aligned with his father politically, more decision-making power. According to sealed testimony heard in September, after HBO axed the fictional Logan Roy, Elisabeth Murdoch’s representative to the trust drafted a “Succession memo” named for the TV series, not the general concept of post-mortem continuity. A Nevada commissioner ruled against Rupert and Lachlan Murdoch on Saturday, though a lawyer told the Times they plan to appeal.