96 Fun Facts About Succession

Who is named Waystar's new CEO in the Succession series finale?

Tom Wambsgans gets the job because GoJo's founder wants a front man who will take orders, and passes over the Roy who had been counting on the title.

In Succession's pilot, what birthday gift does Tom give Logan?

A Swiss watch, a Patek Philippe: that afternoon Logan's aide hands it, with a non-disclosure agreement, to the family of a boy Roman has taunted with a million-dollar cheque.

Where is Logan when he dies in season 4?

On his private jet, bound for Sweden to meet GoJo's founder, Logan collapses; Tom holds a phone to his ear so that his children can say goodbye.

Greg's grandfather threatens to donate his entire estate to which organization rather than leave it to Greg?

Greg later floats suing Greenpeace as a ploy to claw back the inheritance.

What is Greg Hirsch's family relation to Logan Roy?

Great-nephew: Greg's grandfather is Logan's estranged brother, which makes him 'Cousin Greg' only to Logan's children, and a distant cousin at that.

After Logan is hospitalized in season 1, Kendall becomes acting CEO and Roman is given which title?

Chief Operating Officer was Roman's price for signing off on Logan's changes to the family trust, and it cost longtime deputy Frank Vernon his job the same day.

What was Shiv Roy's profession before she began working full-time at Waystar RoyCo?

Political consultant: Shiv advised liberal candidates and even signed on with Senator Gil Eavis, a sworn enemy of her father and his company.

Which Roy sibling launches a long-shot campaign for US president?

Connor announces his run at Shiv's wedding; by season 4 he is polling at one percent, just enough for a rival's camp to dangle an ambassadorship if he drops out.

Whom does Logan announce as Waystar's next CEO in season 2, only for her to walk away?

Rhea Jarrell, the former head of rival PGM, is announced as Logan's successor and soon walks away, wanting no part of the scandal-hit company.

Which real network's New Jersey headquarters stood in for Waystar's news channel newsroom?

CNBC's working newsroom was free only from Friday evening to early Monday morning, so the election-night episode was shot there over two weekends of night shoots.

Waystar's season 4 Investor Day, where Kendall makes his flight-suit pitch, is held in which city?

Los Angeles hosts the Investor Day, and the flight suit was Jeremy Strong's own idea: part Elon Musk, part Top Gun.

In Succession's pilot, Logan Roy collapses and is rushed to hospital with what medical emergency, forcing talk of a successor?

A stroke, a brain hemorrhage, strikes Logan on the flight home, hours after he told Kendall he would not be stepping down after all.

In Succession's third season, the Roy siblings gather in which European country for their mother Caroline's wedding?

Italy: at the Tuscan wedding the siblings race to stop Logan selling Waystar, only to learn their mother has signed away their veto in a new divorce deal.

In Succession, what does Greg do when Tom orders him to destroy incriminating documents?

Greg secretly keeps some of them, copying the key pages before he shreds the rest, and later trades on the copies to ask Kendall for a better job.

In Succession, who serves as Waystar RoyCo's general counsel and is also godmother to Shiv Roy?

Gerri Kellman, Waystar's general counsel and Shiv's godmother, is named acting CEO in season 3 when Logan steps back amid the scandal.

After Logan's death, an undated paper found in his safe names whom as his successor?

Kendall is named, though nobody can tell whether the pencil line on his name underlines it or crosses it out; he uses the paper to claim the top job anyway.

Who directed the pilot episode of 'Succession,' titled 'Celebration'?

Adam McKay directed the pilot and, having cast Jeremy Strong in The Big Short, sent him the script and told him to pick the part he connected with.

Which project does Logan hand Roman in season 1, only for it to end in disaster?

A satellite launch in Japan: Roman slips away from Shiv's wedding to watch it live on his phone, and the rocket explodes on the pad.

Where does Logan's estranged older brother live, alone, as a rancher?

Canada is home to Ewan's ranch, and he will not fly, so in season 1 Greg makes the long drive north to bring him to the family Thanksgiving.

What does Roman report about Vaulter's staff that helps persuade Logan to gut the site?

They plan to unionize: Roman hears it from tipsy employees, along with word that readership is failing, and Logan orders Kendall to shut the site down.

Which Waystar RoyCo division is central to Succession's cover-up scandal?

Kendall's press-conference betrayal of his father runs on the Parks and Cruises cover-up, which also drags Logan before Congress.

What is the name of the tech billionaire who seeks to acquire Waystar RoyCo in later seasons?

Lukas Matsson, the Swedish founder of streaming giant GoJo, starts out as the company Logan wants to buy and ends up buying Waystar himself.

What does Shiv ask Tom for right after they are declared husband and wife?

On their wedding night Shiv tells Tom she wants an open marriage, confessing her affair with Nate Sofrelli in the same breath and setting the tone for the whole marriage.

What is the name of Kendall Roy's ex-wife and the mother of his children?

Rava Roy left Kendall over his drug use; through season 1 he keeps trying to win her back while she quietly lines up a divorce lawyer.

What nickname does the Roy family use for the sitting US president?

'The Raisin' is the Roys' private name for a president who is never seen on screen; in season 3 ATN's hostile coverage helps push him out of running again.

What does Kendall reveal on stage just before performing his rap 'L to the OG'?

A "Roy 50" baseball jersey: Kendall sheds his jacket to show it, then raps over a beat composer Nicholas Britell had made in college, judging it close to Kendall's own taste.

Whom does Caroline Collingwood marry in Succession's season 3 finale?

Peter Munion trails a string of failed marriages and failed ventures; Roman warns his mother that the man is marrying his way toward Waystar, and she brushes it off.

Who is Logan Roy's third wife, his spouse for most of Succession?

Marcia Roy, Logan's third wife, is written into the family trust in the pilot, a change his children are asked to sign and fight him over that same day.

Which longtime rival of Logan secretly backs the hostile takeover bid in Succession's first season?

Sandy Furness, a rival mogul and old enemy of Logan, is the hidden money behind the bid; he later falls ill and sends his daughter Sandi to negotiate for him.

Who founded Vaulter, and holds Kendall in open contempt?

Lawrence Yee, played by Rob Yang, founded Vaulter and sold it to Waystar in season 1, where he openly sneers at Kendall until Logan has the site gutted.

Whose deciding board vote sends Waystar to GoJo in the Succession finale?

Shiv agrees to back Kendall for CEO, then balks at the final vote, tells him she cannot stomach him in the job and sides with the buyer.

Connor's girlfriend Willa pursues which career in Succession's first two seasons?

Playwright: Willa's play opens in season 2, and she learns aboard the family yacht that the critics have panned it.

What is the name of the Scottish city where Logan Roy was born and where a major celebration is held?

Dundee is Brian Cox's own birthplace; the writers quietly made it Logan's too as a surprise, and Cox heard about it from a co-star after a dubbing session.

Which comedian guest-stars as the host of The Disruption, the late-night show that skewers Kendall?

Ziwe plays host Sophie Iwobi, whose jabs at him Kendall watches at an after-party before deciding to go on the show himself.

Which football club does Roman buy Logan as a 50-year gift, only to learn Logan supports its rival?

Hearts is the club Roman buys with Azerbaijani billionaire Eduard Asgarov; Logan reminds them he supports Hibs, and Roman realizes he has bought the wrong team.

Succession's yacht-set season 2 finale was filmed off which country?

Croatia: the yacht scenes were shot on its Adriatic coast, on the trip where Logan picks Kendall to take the fall for the scandal.

What is the name of the senior-housing venture Kendall unveils at Waystar's Investor Day?

Living+ was Logan's own unrealized idea, which Kendall inflates on stage with growth promises that the company's CFO warns it cannot keep.

Kendall's friend from Harvard, a private-equity investor with a seat on Waystar's board, is which character?

Stewy Hosseini gets his board seat in season 1, when a cornered Kendall trades him a minority stake for cash; he is secretly working with a rival of Logan's.

Logan's baby sister Rose died of which disease, a death his aunt and uncle blamed on him?

Rose died of polio that Logan, then a boy, was blamed for bringing home; Ewan tells the story in his blistering eulogy at Logan's funeral.

Which actor plays Logan Roy's estranged older brother in Succession?

James Cromwell plays Ewan Roy, who brushes past relatives trying to stop him at Logan's funeral and delivers a eulogy that damns his brother's legacy.

In Succession's season 1 finale, the young man who dies in Kendall's car crash had what job at the wedding?

Waiter: Logan had fired him that night over spilled champagne, and later covers up the crash to force Kendall out of the takeover.

Who is Waystar RoyCo's chief financial officer for most of Succession?

Karl Muller is Waystar's chief financial officer and one of Logan's old guard; in season 4 he warns that Kendall's inflated Investor Day numbers will not hold.

GoJo summons Waystar's entire executive team to its corporate retreat in which country?

Norway: the old guard takes the summons as a sign GoJo means to buy, while the siblings bristle at being called away so soon after Logan's death.

In Succession, who is Logan's ever-present bodyguard, described as his 'body man'?

Colin is Logan's bodyguard and 'body man', a constant silent presence; in the season 4 premiere Logan muses to him over a late-night diner meal about death and whether people are just economic units.

In Succession's final season, what secret does Shiv keep from her brothers until Logan's funeral?

Her pregnancy: Tom hears first, on election night, and brushes it off as one more tactic to manipulate him.

Kendall's penthouse in Succession's third season was filmed in which new Manhattan development?

Hudson Yards: the production designer felt the gleaming new district suited Kendall, 'that sort of Hudson Yards kind of guy', and staged his 40th birthday party there too.

What are the names of Kendall Roy's two children?

Sophie and Iverson: in the finale Roman goads Kendall that Logan never counted the two as real bloodline, and Kendall goes for him.

What is the name of the fictional streaming service owned by Waystar RoyCo?

StarGo is Waystar's creaky streaming service; in season 3 Roman offers to shut it down to tempt the founder of rival streamer GoJo into a deal.

In Succession's pilot, the Roys mark Logan's birthday with which family tradition?

Softball: the family flies out to play, and Roman offers the groundskeeper's son a million dollars for a home run, then tears up the cheque in front of him.

Why is Greg fired from his theme-park job in Succession's first episode?

He vomited in his mascot costume after smoking marijuana on the job; his mother then packed him off to New York to ask Logan for something better.

Succession began as an unproduced film script about which real media family?

The Murdochs: Armstrong's script made Hollywood's Black List of unfilmed screenplays; he then rebuilt it as fiction, borrowing as well from the Redstones, Maxwells and Sulzbergers.

In Succession, what gets into poll analyst Darwin Perry's eyes on election night?

Wasabi gets into Darwin's eyes just as he is due on air to explain a cautious 'pending' call; without him, Tom lets ATN call the state for Mencken outright.

In Succession's finale, what do Shiv and Roman whip up in Caroline's kitchen to 'anoint' their brother?

A smoothie: there was no safe prop version, the director said, and Jeremy Strong drank the real blend through at least eight takes, retching into the sink between them.

In Succession, Roman's misfired explicit photo lands in whose inbox?

Logan's phone gets the photo Roman meant for Gerri, moments after his father praised his deal-making with GoJo; Logan then weighs firing Gerri to head off the fallout.

In Succession, Connor's ranch is in which US state?

New Mexico: Connor has the whole family fly out to his ranch there for a weekend of group therapy, staged to repair Logan's public image.

Succession's costumes became shorthand for which 2020s fashion trend?

Quiet luxury: costume designer Michelle Matland dressed the Roys in costly clothes with no logos and muted colours, and the show carried the look to a far wider audience.

In Succession, what does Logan call the game he forces Tom, Greg and Karl to play at the hunting lodge?

Logan names the game 'Boar on the Floor', making Tom, Greg and Karl crawl and oink for sausages as he hunts for the leaker at the Hungarian lodge.

In Succession, how does Roman end up bloodied after Logan's funeral?

He walks into a crowd of protesters after the funeral and provokes them into beating him; his stitches burst when Kendall hugs him hard in the finale.

Before playing Tom in Succession, Matthew Macfadyen was best known as which literary hero?

Mr. Darcy: Macfadyen was the brooding romantic lead of the 2005 film Pride & Prejudice, a long way from Tom, the fawning social climber he went on to play.

In Succession, which ambassadorship does Mencken's camp offer a rival for dropping out of the presidential race?

Slovenia is the posting a one-percent candidate accepts; his rambling concession speech then goes out live on ATN in the middle of election night.

In Succession's season 2 finale, Tom defiantly eats a piece of Logan's what?

Tom plucks a piece of chicken off Logan's plate and eats it in front of everyone; minutes earlier on the beach he had told Shiv he was unhappy in their marriage.

In Succession, GoJo's founder repeatedly mailed his ex-girlfriend Ebba what after their breakup?

Frozen blood, half a liter at a time: GoJo's founder admits it to Shiv, who, both disturbed and amused, coaches him on heading off a scandal.

Which job at Waystar does Logan's assistant Kerry angle for in Succession's final season?

News anchor: Kerry's audition tape for ATN is mocked across the company, and Logan has Tom turn her down, a job Tom promptly hands to Greg.

In Succession, Logan tells his children at a karaoke bar that they are not what?

At the karaoke bar Logan tells Kendall, Shiv and Roman, 'I love you, but you are not serious people'; he dies in the following episode.

Which Billy Joel song does Kendall rehearse for his 40th birthday party in Succession?

Honesty: Kendall rehearses it for an onstage stunt, then calls the performance off on the night; Jeremy Strong's full cover was later released with the season's score.

In Succession, Tom Wambsgans is originally from which city?

St. Paul, Minnesota: when Tom needs a lawyer in season 1 he turns to his mother, a respected attorney back in the Twin Cities, and Shiv mocks him for it.

In Succession, what affectionate nickname does Logan use for Shiv?

Logan calls Shiv 'Pinky'; the pet name sits alongside his season 2 promise to make her his successor, a promise he quietly abandons.

On election night in Succession, a voting center is set on fire in which city?

Milwaukee: the fire destroys thousands of ballots from a liberal-leaning county, and Roman seizes on the gap to push an early Wisconsin call for Mencken.

In Succession, the leftist senator Shiv briefly works for was loosely modeled on whom?

Bernie Sanders, by Eric Bogosian's own account: the actor skipped a direct impersonation of the senator and borrowed only his gut-level indignation.

In Succession's final season, what is the name of the Roy siblings' proposed new media brand?

The Hundred lasts one episode: the moment the siblings learn Logan is bidding for Pierce Global Media again, they drop it to make a rival offer.

In Succession, GoJo's subscriber numbers turn out to have been inflated in which country?

India: GoJo's founder admits the inflated figures to Shiv, who advises releasing the news amid the election fallout and Logan's funeral, when coverage will be thin.

Where does Kendall wander in the final scene of Succession?

Battery Park: Kendall sits on a bench staring at the water, a bodyguard a few steps behind, moments after losing the vote that would have made him CEO.

Which actress plays Shiv Roy in Succession?

Sarah Snook did not want the part at first: she resisted auditioning and, by her own account, said no to the offer, fearing the one woman among the men would be a prop.

Succession's season 4 premiere borrows its title from which 1960s sitcom?

The Munsters, the sitcom about a family of friendly monsters, lends its name to an episode in which Logan walks out of his own birthday party to eat with his bodyguard.

Which rapper remixed Succession's main title theme in 2019?

Pusha T took on the theme as a fan who had binge-watched the first season; composer Nicholas Britell picked him, saying his voice 'is like a missile'.

At Kendall's 40th birthday party in Succession, the VIP zone is a giant replica of what?

His childhood treehouse: Kendall bans Shiv and Roman from it once he learns they came only to court a tech founder holed up inside.

In Succession, what does Connor agree to buy during Logan's wake?

Logan's apartment: Connor haggles the price to $63 million on the spot, while his siblings are busy fighting over who will run the company.

In Succession, Jeremy Strong initially hoped to play which character?

Roman was the part Strong wanted, but it went to Kieran Culkin; the showrunner then agreed to let him audition for Kendall instead.

Kendall's fatal car accident in Succession's first season was inspired by which real incident?

Ted Kennedy's Chappaquiddick crash of 1969 was the model, down to the aftermath: Kendall's talk with Logan echoes Kennedy's own confession to his father.

What does Logan's swim at Connor's ranch reveal?

Back scars: Logan swims only after his children have left the ranch, and the marks are apparently from beatings he says an uncle gave him as a boy.

Succession's Hungarian hunting-lodge episode was inspired by whose cruel dinner parties?

Joseph Stalin's dinner parties, with the cruel jokes he played on his own confidants, were on the showrunner's mind; he said viewers might see 'echoes' of them.

In Succession, poll analyst Darwin Perry was partly inspired by which NBC News figure?

Steve Kornacki came to mind at once, actor Adam Godley has said: he saw Darwin as a man of professional integrity dropped into the middle of the Roys' newsroom.

In the Succession finale, Kendall pleads that the top job must be his because he is what?

The eldest boy, he shouts, forgetting that Connor, the half-brother nobody counts, is older than all of them.

Every Succession season finale takes its title from a poem by which writer?

John Berryman's 'Dream Song 29' supplies all four; its speaker is haunted by the thought that he has killed someone, though nobody is missing, an echo of Kendall's own guilt.

On the morning of Logan's funeral in Succession, who tells Kendall she is quitting?

Jess, his long-serving assistant, has it dragged out of her on the way to the service, and Kendall sneers at her timing; it was filmed where Jackie Onassis's funeral was held.

In Succession's first season, Shiv and Tom marry at a castle in which country?

England: the wedding is held at the home of Shiv's English mother, filmed at Eastnor Castle in Herefordshire, which hosts real weddings too.

Greg appears in every Succession episode but one, set at Connor's ranch; what is its title?

Austerlitz is the family-therapy episode: Greg sits it out, and the celebrity therapist ends up in hospital after diving into the shallow end of the pool.

During a lockdown at ATN in Succession's second season, what does Tom pelt Greg with?

Water bottles: after a gunshot sends staff into safe rooms, Greg tells Tom he no longer wants to work at ATN, and Tom pelts him in a rage before calming down.

Kieran Culkin won his lead actor Emmy for which Succession episode?

Church and State is the funeral episode, in which Roman breaks down before he can give his eulogy; Culkin beat co-stars Brian Cox and Jeremy Strong to the award.

In Succession's final season, what does Tom warn Greg is in every room of Logan's home?

Cameras: Greg has just slept with his date in a guest room, so he confesses to Logan, whose security then checks her phone and shows her out.

What is causing the stench at the Roys' summer house in Succession's season 2 premiere?

Dead raccoons in the chimney: Logan blames a contractor he underpaid for stuffing them there, has the waiting banquet thrown out and orders pizza.

Testifying before the Senate in Succession, a rattled Tom claims not to know whom?

Greg: pressed by a senator about missing documents, Tom panics and denies knowing his own assistant, then storms back to the family calling himself their patsy.

How does Kendall's no-confidence vote against Logan end in Succession's first season?

He loses and is fired: Kendall reaches the boardroom only after the vote has slipped away, and Logan sacks him along with everyone who backed the motion.

In Succession's second season, what does Roman enroll in, on Gerri's advice, to earn Logan's respect?

Management training: Roman joins Waystar's six-week program and, bored and rude to the public, ends up working as a costumed character at a company park.

How does Succession's penultimate season 3 episode leave Kendall?

Face-down in a swimming pool: drunk on a float, Kendall lets his head slip under; he survives, and waves away his siblings' intervention as fuss over an accident.

Alexander Skarsgård named which Spotify co-founder as an inspiration for his Succession character?

Daniel Ek was one model, Elon Musk another, Skarsgård has said, for a part first pitched to him as a two-episode guest role and later built into a lead.