Succession

Kids, I changed my mind. I'm staying on.

- As CEO. Head of the firm. - You fucked me.

Three years ago, you were still in the nuthouse.

Dad, it's called rehab.

And I'm in recovery.

- (HELICOPTER WHIRS) - Aye...

- Dad? Dad? - Dad? Dad?!

While Dad is ill, the family proposes

that Kendall run the company with Roman as COO.

Yes. Very serious.

I'm not saying I would make a better CEO. That's unsaid.

It's not unsaid when you say it.

- You know that he gave me a job? - Why would I know?

'Cause I thought everybody might be talking about me.

Yeah, no. Everyone was only talking about you, Cousin Greg.

Come in and see me, and I'll look after you.

There's a huge debt problem. Three billion. Don't jump.

I've had an idea. You give me four billion dollars.

I stay boss. You invest...

I didn't know you were coming in.

Just making sure you're not selling

any more of the company from under me.

Dad's not well. If he's not careful,

he's gonna destroy the company.

The only way he'll respect you is if you try to destroy him.

I love my father, but he is currently unfit

to run this company, and I'm calling for a vote

of no confidence in him as CEO and chairman.

Bullshit. No.

All in favor.

You better be smelling your fucking armpit, Romulus.

Against.

- Where you been? - Meeting about a perspective job.

With your father's enemy?

You want this enough to go to war with your family?

Sandy, he wants your piece of pie.

Bring me in. We do this properly.

Takeover, leverage buyout. Hostile.

- What's your end? - CEO.

I wanna talk about you properly.

Come in. I always thought you were the smartest.

Oh, so that's why you tried Kendall and Roman first?

Why are you so jumpy about this, Ken?

Why am I jumpy? Fucking Rome.

Fucking Shiv and Connor.

About taking the company out of family control?

Is this a fucking bear hug?

Fuck off.

You don't have a connection for some powder?

Yeah.

Look out!

This could be the defining moment of your life.

A rich kid kills a boy. You'll never be anything else.

Or you could be nothing at all -(CRYING CONTINUES)

My boy. My number one boy.

Excuse me, sir? Mr. Roy?

Um, could you come with me, please?

What is it?

We were asked... There's, um, a gentleman here for you.

For me? W...

W... What is this? What do you mean?

This came as an instruction to me,

so could you just come with me please?

Hey. Hi, Kendall. I'm Ragnar Magnusson.

Oh... Hi. - How are you?

Hi, uh... what is this?

Uh... Do you want to get dressed and we can talk?

We might need to pull you out.

Pull me out?

I'm sorry, who... wh... who is "we"?

- Who are you? - It's fine, Kendall. I'm Ragnar.

I have relationship with Pinks in London

and your father has asked us

to manage getting you on television as soon as possible.

Uh-huh. Okay.

I've only been here like 48 hours and, uh...

I'm meant to have a silica, uh, mud treatment. Can I just, uh...

Uh... (CHUCKLES) No.

I'm sorry. It's not going to work.

(CLEARS THROAT) So,

it was felt Sandy, Stewy and Maesbury Capital

wouldn't proceed with their bid without you,

but they have gone public with the bear hug,

and the advice was we should get you on TV this morning

as New York opens. Okay?

Okay. Right.

Um, but will... will that help?

A public and personal declaration of withdrawal

could be really helpful.

You okay, mate?

Yeah.

Yeah, you could do this.

You could stop it.

Okay, yeah.

I mean, if my dad wants me to do it,

uh, I'll... I'll do it.

I saw their plan; Dad's plan is better.

How are you feeling?

You look good.

Yeah, I feel, uh, I feel good.

Great.

- (CAR BEEPS) Good?

Hi!

Hi, Karolina. Good to see you.

Hey, Ken. - Hey.

So, we've got a flash studio with an affiliate.

We have hair and make-up and a suit for you.

You okay, Ken?

Uh, yep. Okay.

Okay.

They will wanna go for the tough one, so let's run it.

Okay? "So, um, you allied"

with one of your father's bitterest business rivals

in a maneuver that could see him lose the firm.

Why did you do that?

And why did you change your mind...

- (PRODUCER SPEAKING ICELANDIC) - "...and pull out?"

- (PRODUCER CONTINUES SPEAKING) - Okay, so then,

Kendall: "I saw their plan, but Dad's plan was better."

Right?

Right, Kendall?

- Right? - Uh-huh. Yeah. I got it.

I'm pulling this.

- Uh-huh. No, I got it. I got it. - Maybe we'll do something

- with friendly print on arrival. - I got it. I'm good.

Um, Ken? Excuse me, can we get a tissue, please?

He needs a tissue.

- (OVERLAPPING CHATTER) Just watch the shirt.

Karolina, I can do this, okay?

Karolina, I'm okay.

Karolina, I'm okay.

(OVER PA) Hi, Kendall? Ten seconds.

I'll red-light you once you're on with Sacha, okay?

Okay. Thank you.

We're joined now by Kendall Roy,

who was recently allied to a proposed bid

by private equity fund Maesbury

to take control of Waystar Royco

out of the hands of his own father,

media legend Logan Roy.

Now, Kendall, you know I'm gonna ask you this,

how are things between you and your dad?

(CHUCKLES) Uh, pretty good.

You know, we're... we're, uh, we're... we're pretty close, so,

you know, that's how we are.

Oh, well, that's a...

- We take the... Sorry. - Great attitude.

- Sorry. Go ahead. - No... O... Okay.

So, let's dive in. Tell us what happened.

Right. - Why did you get involved?

Why did you back out?

Right. Um...

I mean, there's a, uh...

myriad, uh, factors in a decision.

A whole lifetime can lead to a moment,

and, uh, when I... when I sat down and really looked...

God, he looks terrible.

He's like a... sweaty corpse.

Yeah.

He looks waxy, like an unshaven candle.

Uh, but I mean, um...

You know, the long and the short of it is, I...

saw their plan, and my dad's plan was better.

Look, this is, uh, this is tough for me and my family.

But I made an assessment looking at the sector

and the firm's trajectory

that, you know, shareholders were being ignored.

But the fact is, those concerns are being addressed,

and, uh, you know, it... it... it comes down to shareholder value.

- Um, and, you know... - (INDISTINCT PA ANNOUNCEMENT)

Frankly, uh, what also sort of become obvious,

was there were some unstable personalities involved

- uh, with this deal. - (SACHA CHUCKLES)

"Ooh, I'm Kendall and I'm a sassy little bitch."

- What do you think? - What's going on?

I thought he was benched.

Ah, what the... What's he saying? We got shitty Wi-Fi.

He looks weird, right?

He looks demented. Why is he so shiny?

Why do you have shitty Wi-Fi?

We wanted a place without Wi-Fi.

I mean, to me he looks like a fucking joke,

but what would an average Joe think?

Hey, I'll call you back.

So, once upon a time,

word was that you were in pole position

to take over, right?

And, uh, God forbid your dad was hit by a bus tomorrow,

is there a plan?

Uh, well, um... I would say...

uh, the plan would be for the Municipality of New York

to, uh, find another bus,

because if my dad gets hit by a bus tomorrow,

the city will be down one bus,

not one CEO.

Fair enough. Fair enough, Ken...

Ladies and gentlemen,

the first fucking thing

my son's ever done right in his life.

Ah, how the mighty are fallen.