Question – Does it really matter whether Shiv, Kendall, Connor or Roman become the CEO of the company? The family is filthy rich and successful and so they’ll simply continue to be filthy rich and successful.
Answer – It matters a lot. Frances Stroh, in her book, Beer Money, documents the decline of Stroh Beer. Established in Detroit in 1850, by 1984 the Stroh Brewing Company had become the largest private beer fortune in America and a brand emblematic of the American dream itself; while Stroh was growing up, the Stroh family fortune was estimated to be worth $700 million.
Frances’ life was pure Roy: shopping trips to London and New York, lunches served by black-tied waiters at the Regency Hotel, and a house filled with precious antiques, which she was forbidden to touch. There was also the very typical family stuff such as divorce, drug arrests and getting tossed out of boarding school. (Quick Quiz – How many times was Roman thrown out of boarding school?)
Stroh Beer was headquartered in Detroit and their decline echoed the retreat of the automobile industry. As their fortune declined, the family dynamics tore the family apart.
While the Stroh Family saga would appear to be an outlier, it’s actually the norm:
- 7 in 10 people who suddenly receive a large inheritance will lose it all within just a few years.
- 90% of inheritances are lost by the 3rd Generation. Andrew Carnegie is credited with the term “Shirtsleeves to shirtsleeves in three generations”; however different culture have their own saying. In Japan, the expression goes, “Rice paddies to rice paddies in three generations.” The Scottish say, “The father buys, the son builds, the grandchild sells, and his son begs.” The Chinese version is “wealth never survives three generations”.
- The Vanderbilts had at one point been worth over $6.2 billion in today’s money. When 120 of the Commodore’s descendants gathered at Vanderbilt University in 1973 for the first family reunion, there was not a millionaire among them.
- Only 24% of Millennials demonstrate basic financial literacy.
It really matters who will run the Roy Family empire. Now that “Succession” has been picked up for Season 4, could there be an illegitimate Roy sibling in the future?
SEASON 3; EPISODE 5 – RETIRED JANITORS OF IDAHO (spoiler alert)
My favorite part of the episode is that Sandy Furness’ daughter is also named Sandy. Do you think her given name was Sandy, thus being Sandy, Jr. or she just took the name to screw around with her parents? Considering that the two most famous Sandys in the world are Sandy Koufax and Sandy from “Grease”, it’s great to see Sandy get a little love.
More importantly to the storyline, it’s finally showtime for the shareholders’ meeting. If the two sides can’t agree to terms, control of the company will be determined by the shareholders’ votes. This scares the bejesus out of everybody so Kendall and Stewy meet clandestinely to discuss a solution. Kendall points out to Stewy that their financing is shaky and Stewy claims not to care… they will simply move to the next company. Kendall reminds Stewy of the $50 million that will be flushed down the toilet, which is not an optimum outcome. Stewy summons Gerri, Karl, Shiv, and Roman to meet with Sandy Jr. and Sandy Sr. who looks like the human embodiment of a raisin. The discussions are tracking positively until Sandy asks Waystar to get rid of the PJs (Private Jets). This could be the ultimate dealbreaker.
Shiv decides to take action and reaches out to Sandy Jr. for a one-to-one conversation. Shiv informs Sandy Jr. that the family will cave on the private jets. When Sandy Jr. doesn’t sign off, Shiv shares that she doesn’t like how Sandy Sr. sidelines” Sandy Jr. and suggests there should be an additional board seat for her. Of course, the Roy side will need an additional board seat and that will go to Shiv. Sandy Jr. knows Sandy Sr. won’t approve, but Shiv counters that “the markets” won’t let her or any of her brothers ever ascend to CEO. When Sandy Jr. asks whether Shiv believes that. Shiv: “I only care if your dad believes it.”
It should be noted that the Shev and Sandy, the two Family Business daughters were able to get the deal done. This is an interesting example of how female leadership can benefit Family Businesses. Shiv and Sandy both get something they want out of the negotiation. They don’t need to destroy the other party; they don’t need to stab each other in the back (they save that for their own family members). They walk away with a win.
Unfortunately, the Sandy negotiation was the highlight of the episode for Shiv. First of all, Tom nuzzles up to Shiv only to reveal that he’s tracking her fertility cycle. He might be doing this because he wants a child, it could be that he wants to limit her affairs when he’s in jail. If Tom is obnoxious and delusional, then Logan is horrific as he dismisses out of hand the deal with the Sandys. The fact that he didn’t have an answer isn’t factored into his venomous outburst.
Finally, it’s been a couple of interesting days for Roman. The last time we visited with him, he was drudging up a homeless man with a “KR” tattooed on his forehead. This week he’s elected to talk to the President because he’s “Bootleg Logan”. If that means to that Roman is an idiotic man-child who’s unable to run a bath, much less a company, then he’s the right guy. If not, it’s a questionable call. However, Roman takes the call and learns the President is going to run again for office.
Connor 2024!
Allen Esrock is the Founder of NxtGen Nexus, a platform for the next generation of family business owners which is based on his experience of growing up in a family business. Prior to that he started Jitter Fingers, the first safe, social networking website for tween girls and their bffs with Jitter Finger clubs in 12+ countries and 250+ cities in the US.
