Logan Roy Is a Terrible Teacher

On April 9, 2023, Logan Roy, infamous media mogul and patriarch of the ultra-wealthy Roy family, died at the age of 84. Shortly after, the Los Angeles Times published this obituary chronicling his life and times. The wry twist to this obit is that Logan Roy is actually a fictional character on the award-winning television series “Succession”. His dynamic, terrifying presence during the show’s four seasons have made Logan Roy a prominent cultural icon.

Logan Roy is also a terrible teacher.

For those readers unfamiliar with the show (be advised spoilers lie ahead) the main storyline involves Logan’s quest to find a suitable successor to run Waystar Royco, the company he founded and built into a global empire. His hope is to groom one of his four children for the CEO role. Logan suffers a stroke near the end of the first episode that heightens the urgency of this pursuit for all involved.

Given this main objective, Logan’s methods fail to prepare any of his children for the top job, or in some cases any job at all. Here are some meaningful examples of how that unfolds for each of the siblings:

Roman

Roman is not a serious person. Raised in the golden bubble of extreme wealth, he is a flippant clown with marginal business skills. All the same, Roman stumbles ass-backward into the role of Chief Operating Officer of Waystar Royco. Logan comes to realize this mistake and assigns his trusted lieutenant Frank to be Roman’s tutor. Indignant, Roman asks “What does that mean?” Logan bellows “It means you do what he tells you!”

Eventually Roman finds an able tutor in Gerri, the Chief Legal Counsel of Waystar Royco. She urges Roman to go through the company’s corporate leadership program. There Roman learns and develops as a businessperson. Seeing his potential, Gerri takes him on as an apprentice. But in time Roman’s deep character flaws spoil this mentorship (I almost just wrote “relationship” or “partnership”, oy, if you watch the show, you understand my difficulty completing this sentence).

Logan occasionally praises Roman’s minor successes, but never passes on knowledge or accrued wisdom. In Logan’s world, teaching is not hands-on work; it gets subcontracted out to others. Teachers function as bosses or babysitters.

Connor

Connor had always been an outsider, disinterested in the company and content to enjoy the indulgences of wealth. That changes while serving as a substitute event planner for the company charity gala. Drunk on his first sip of power, Connor makes a pitch to Logan: he wants to run the whole Waystar Royco charity organization.

Logan replies with a grunting murmur that on the surface indicates a “we’ll see” stance. But that grunt is a trademark Logan mannerism. He grunts similarly to his other children throughout the series. The audience knows the subtext to that grunt. Logan is secretly testing Connor. At the gala dinner when butter for the rolls arrives frozen, Connor has failed the test.

Poor, sad Connor, the after-thought son. Logan never bothered to coach him, about the butter or much of anything else. It’s Logan’s pattern to secretly tests his kids. They mostly fail because they are unaware of the test. Plus, he never taught them the subject matter in the first place.

Shiv

Siobhan is Logan’s only daughter, who goes by the awesomely appropriate nickname Shiv. When we first meet her, she works as a political consultant having never expressed interest in the family business. Discounted by the brothers, Shiv is the most intelligent and savvy one of the four. Logan comes to see this around the same time he realizes his sons are hopeless goofs.

At the start of Season 2, Logan anoints Shiv to be his successor. It is perhaps Logan’s most sincere, heart-warming moment in the series. Shiv realizes this is what she has always wanted. To be seen and respected by her father in a role where she always felt she could excel, but never dared to hope.

Initially their succession plan is kept a secret between them. Logan tells her that they will fast-track her training within the company. But as the weeks go by, ambition and power get the better of Shiv. She impatiently pressures Logan to accelerate her training and announce her as future CEO. The more Shiv presses Logan, the more he grunts and evades and pushes back the timetable.

It all comes to a head in a disastrous way. At a crucial moment in a business negotiation, Logan is pressed to name his successor to seal the deal. When he refuses, Shiv blurts out their secret pact. Logan is furious. He stares daggers at her that signal serious repercussions. Logan does everything his way, on his own schedule, based on an obtuse inner logic. Counterattacking challenges to his decisions takes precedent over any other objective. He is a single-minded professor so convinced of his expertise that he fails to teach his unworthy students. Even if the student is his daughter.

Kendall

Kendall is the son thought to be Logan’s successor from the start. He has a keen business mind and significant experience. But Kendall is painfully flawed. He is ambitious, egotistical, insecure, and unstable. At a fundamental level, he loves his father and siblings but also feels he is morally and intellectually superior to them. He is the Chosen One who radiates impending doom from his sweaty brow.

The first episode of the series is supposed to be Kendall’s coronation day. His competence immediately comes into question though when Kendall botches the Vaulter acquisition deal. His smarmy, bro-speak approach to woo the Vaulter executives halts the negotiations. Kendall is confused. His Waystar team watch him flounder in silence. Finally, one of his minions says, “Do you want to call your Dad?” Kendall is enraged.

Later that day, Logan calls out Kendall’s failure as weakness, berating him unmercifully. The Vaulter acquisition is a standard process that Logan has easily executed many times before. Kendall blowing it could be an incredible teaching moment where Logan passes on knowledge born from experience to his son. A better mentor, and a better father, might offer advice or constructive critique in such a moment.

What Logan offers instead is brutal humiliation. He instinctively sees the moment as competitive. Logan preaches at length about how his own strong-armed tactics work. In contrast he calls out Kendall’s overly friendly, throw-money-at-the-problem approach as foolish. Logan rescinds his original plan to retire and name Kendall as his successor. This sets in motion the Shakespearian level tragedy that is Kendall’s journey throughout the entire series.

*****

“Succession” is ultimately not a show about which of the siblings or ancillary players become CEO of Waystar Royco. But rather why each of them are so tragically and/or comically unprepared for the task. Of course, Logan plays a big part in this equation as a mentor and a father.

To be fair, the kids certainly do themselves no favors in how they respond to Logan. After a lifetime with him, they still haven’t figured him out well enough to earn his trust or replicate his success.

“Succession’s” Logan Roy is played by Brian Cox. (credit Macall Polay / HBO)

What makes the show such intriguing drama is that it never explains these forces directly. We may see glimpses of each character’s past and present that offer oblique clues as to why they are the way they are. They each have moments of boastful grandstanding and dismal confession. There are times when we hate each of them and later feel incredible empathy for them.

To me, so much of the painful turmoil of “Succession” results from Logan’s inability to teach. His institutional knowledge is never passed on. Logan actually seems to hoard it. Logan may bark out orders that hint at his gut instincts and street smarts. These have served him well. Perhaps he expects those around him to learn by osmosis. That might work in some environments as part of a thoughtful plan. But in the toxic world of Waystar Royco, proximity to Logan is a corporate cesspool more than a university.

Whatever Logan’s teaching approach might or might not be, it fails to achieve its intended aim. He works at cross purposes from himself and his stated business objective, to find a worthy successor. Hubris blinds Logan who cannot see beyond his singular viewpoint. Logan cannot navigate past his own competitive drive to consider sharing what he knows with his children. His instinctive nature produced an empire and made him a terrible teacher.