Succession

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? Wh…

Wh… 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… No.

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

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.

- 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

- -…and pull out?"

- -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.

- Just watch the shirt.

Karolina, I can do this, okay?

Karolina, I'm okay.

Karolina, I'm okay.

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?

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… okay… 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… -

…frankly, uh, what also sort of become obvious,

was there were some unstable personalities involved

-uh, with this deal. -

"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.

He was a king once. Now look at him.

Eating shit with feet of clay, a fucking neutered hound-dog.

I think he did okay.

Oh, yes, he did great. He did just fine.

But, Jesus! Elvis on the fucking toilet!

Like, he doesn't come back from this,

-right? -

Like, he just walked around the New York Stock Exchange

with his severed dick in his hand

asking where was good for free soup.

He just ate the big dog dick. Sucked that pooch bone dry!

Honey, what's the reaction? What happened to the price?

Uh, dropped down, shot back up.

I think Sandy and Stewy offer Dad a way out, asset swap.

Right? I mean, that's what the next move is.

Yeah, I would think so, right?

-If they're going to proceed. -Well,

-they can't go hostile. -No.

Especially without Kendall's equity.

Shit. No.

You wanna abandon honeymoon?

No, I mean… No, I don't want to. Do you?

No. I don't want to. No.

Do you?

Did you get the bike?

Yeah, your dad didn't want you to ride all alone, Ken.

We got a guy.

Oh, here he is! Mr. Potato Head!

My plastic adversary.

Welcome to the bunker.

Say hello to the grunts.

-No offense, Karl. -None taken.

Yeah, well, a bit of offense, Karl,

because a smarter CFO might have seen

this fucking disaster coming.

Got it. Yep. Offense now taken.

Thank you for the TV thing.

I mean… You know, the least I could do.

Price is up a little, so I don't think it's done anything for us.

Well, at least he tried.

Okay, Karl, I need to de-brief the double agent.

The ground pounders can fuck off.

All right, I'll get the investor call list

for later, and…

I'll, uh, update you in, what, 20, on the…

No, no, no. You're staying.

Stay.

Okay. Now you. Step up onto the rack.

I'm gonna pull you limb from limb like a piñata,

see what falls out.

Okay, so, you want… what?

I want their game plan. What their timetable is,

the capital structure. Endgame. What they might accept.

What their weak points are. But we'll start at the start.

When did they approach you?