List of Succession characters

Brian Cox

• played by Brian Cox

Logan Roy is the billionaire founder of media and entertainment conglomerate Waystar RoyCo. He is a brash leader whose primary focus was his company rather than his four children Connor, Kendall, Roman and Siobhan.

Logan was born in 1938, to abject poverty in Dundee, Scotland. His mother Helen died when he was four years old, and he along with his siblings Ewan and Rose moved to Quebec to stay with their uncle Noah, who physically abused Logan. Rose died during Logan's childhood under unexplained circumstances, burdening him with lifelong regret.[1] Logan went on to create Waystar RoyCo and grow it into a global media and entertainment empire. His leadership of the company estranged him from his brother Ewan, who despises his politics. He has a son, Connor, with his first wife (who was committed to a psychiatric institution), and three children (Kendall, Roman, and Siobhan) with his second wife, Caroline. He eventually divorced Caroline and went on to meet his third wife, Marcia. Logan is shown to have been emotionally withdrawn and abusive to his children to varying degrees throughout their upbringing, leading all of them to continue clamoring for his approval as adults. He is also said to have had a passionate affair with a woman named Sally Ann sometime during his children's youth.[2] As a business leader, Logan is shown to be extraordinarily shrewd, ruthless and well-connected; he holds significant influence over the sitting President of the United States (known within the family as "The Raisin"), who won election in large part due to support from Waystar's right-leaning news network, ATN.

At the beginning of the series, the Roys gather to celebrate Logan's 80th birthday, where it is assumed he will step down as CEO and name Kendall as his successor. However, he shocks his family when he announces he will stay on as CEO and hands them documents naming Marcia as his chief trustee upon his death. Logan suffers a debilitating stroke later that day and is admitted to the hospital, where the rest of his family and inner circle debate how to steward the company while he is incapacitated. Logan soon recovers and announces at a gala event that he will remain CEO, but continues displaying erratic behavior. Kendall plots a vote of no confidence against his father along with Roman and several members of the company's senior management, but it ultimately fails, in part because Logan refuses to leave the room during the vote and instead berates several board members into siding with him, while firing everyone who voted for the motion (including Kendall).

Over the following months, Logan remains at odds with his children: Shiv goes to work as a political consultant for presidential candidate Gil Eavis, a Senator vehemently against Logan and Waystar, while Kendall - a recovering addict - relapses and derails a family therapy session intended to allay public concerns over the company's stability. At Shiv's wedding, Logan learns that Kendall has plotted a hostile takeover of the company alongside his friend Stewy and Logan's nemesis Sandy Furness. After a drug-addled Kendall suffers a car accident that results in the death of a caterer from the wedding, Logan covers up Kendall's involvement and uses the crime as leverage to force him to back down from the takeover. A traumatized Kendall becomes fiercely loyal to Logan, who uses his subservient son to help him combat the takeover bid.

With Stewy and Sandy's takeover bid shoring up shareholder support, Logan's financier and close associates all advise that he sell the company, citing the declining relevance of legacy media in the 21st-century corporate landscape. Logan steadfastly refuses to give up his empire and decides to acquire rival news conglomerate Pierce Global Media (PGM), hoping to make Waystar too large for competitors to buy out. However, the deal falls through after the publication of a major news story exposing Waystar's decades-long cover-up of sexual exploitation on the company's cruise lines. Pierce's CEO Rhea Jarrell remains loyal to Logan after being fired from PGM and helps him navigate the company through the scandal; Logan becomes infatuated with her and eventually names her his successor, alienating Marcia. After a company whistleblower goes public with further details on the scandal, the Roys are called to testify before the Senate. Logan realizes that in order to appease the company's shareholders, he must publicly sacrifice someone close to him as a scapegoat for the scandal. Though the shareholders advise that Logan take responsibility, Logan instead chooses Kendall, who was across the cover-up during his tenure as acting CEO. Kendall obliges, but reverses course during a press conference the next morning by naming his father responsible for the company's historic complicity in the crimes.

Logan and his senior management initially station themselves in Sarajevo (which has no extradition treaty with the U.S.) to plan their defense strategy against Kendall. Logan temporarily steps back as CEO (appointing Gerri as his interim placement), negotiates a settlement with Marcia to ensure her cooperation, and names Shiv Waystar's President of Domestic Operations. Logan experiences a resurgence in health complications upon returning to New York, including heat exhaustion during a meeting with Kendall and shareholder Josh Aaronson, as well as a urinary tract infection that incapacitates him during the company's annual shareholder meeting (forcing his children to make a settlement with Sandy and Stewy without his input). After Waystar and the Department of Justice also reach a settlement, Logan attempts to acquire streaming giant GoJo, but the company's CEO Lukas Matsson instead proposes the opposite, assuring Logan he will continue to control key assets. Logan decides to take up Matsson's offer without consulting his children, whose chances of leading the company are jeopardized with Matsson in control. Kendall, Shiv and Roman attempt to veto their father's decision via their stake in the family holding company. However, Logan and Caroline renegotiate their divorce settlement in time to deprive the children of their voting power, effectively leaving them powerless within the company. Tom is revealed to have tipped off Logan on his children's revolt.

Months later, Logan celebrates his birthday without Kendall, Roman and Shiv present, with the GoJo sale due in 48 hours. He again attempts to buy PGM, but is outbid by the three siblings. On the eve of the GoJo acquisition, Sandi and Stewy convince the siblings to delay the board vote to increase the price of the sale, forcing Logan to try reconciling with his children. Kendall and Shiv refuse to budge, unsuccessfully demanding an apology from their father for his betrayal and his cruel parenting. Logan is then left no choice but to go to Sweden to renegotiate the deal with Matsson, but he suddenly dies on the flight from a pulmonary embolism, with only Tom and some of his other senior team by his side. Tom phones the children - who are attending Connor's wedding - to give them a chance to say goodbye. The plane is turned around and Logan is pronounced dead on arrival; the siblings make a statement announcing his death to the press, then watch as his body is removed from the plane.

During Logan's wake, an undated document is found in his safe naming Kendall his successor upon his death, with several pencil addendums included. Kendall and Roman eventually decide to run the company together as co-CEOs, since the company's succession plan formally dictated leadership be passed down to COO - Roman's role at the time.

Alan Ruck

• played by Alan Ruck

Connor is the eldest son of Logan Roy from his first marriage. Prone to delusions of grandeur, Connor is mostly removed from corporate affairs, residing at a ranch in New Mexico with his young girlfriend Willa and deferring to his siblings on most firm-related matters. In season 2, he announces his bid for President of the United States, running as a libertarian candidate.

Little is known of Connor's childhood, though his mother was sent to a psychiatric institution by Logan while Connor was young. According to Ruck, Logan divorced his first wife when Connor was approximately eight years old.[3] Though Connor is content to remain distanced from the inner workings of the company, he is often hurt by how frequently he is dismissed or forgotten by his immediate family. Connor holds a deep and obsessive fascination with Napoleonic history throughout the series: his ranch bears its namesake from the Battle of Austerlitz, and he later spends over $500,000 buying Napoleon's preserved penis from an auction, only to later learn it was a fake.[4]

Connor spends much of the first season in New York in the wake of Logan's stroke, while primarily residing at his New Mexico ranch, Austerlitz. His girlfriend, Willa, is a former call girl acting as his sugar baby, though Connor claims to be deeply in love with her and supports her ambitions to become a playwright. After Kendall's failed vote of no confidence against Logan, the family convenes at Austerlitz for a therapy session intended to boost their public image and revive the company's dwindling share price. The session quickly falls apart after their therapist is injured and a relapsed Kendall arrives unannounced at the ranch while intoxicated, instigating a fight with Logan. Connor later has Willa move down to Austerlitz. During Shiv's wedding, he decides to run for President of the United States as a libertarian candidate in the upcoming election.

Connor and Willa soon move to New York, where Willa manages production on her play and Connor sets up a base of operations for his campaign. His family becomes concerned when he announces a platform against taxation, with Logan worrying that it could sabotage his carefully-managed arrangements with the White House. Shiv attempts to convince Connor to call off his run, but Connor refuses and formally announces his candidacy later that day. Connor and Willa attend the funeral of Lester McClintock, the former head of Brightstar Cruises who was known within the company as a serial sexual predator whose misconduct on the cruises was covered up with Logan's approval. The scandal is eventually publicized in a news expose, putting the company in legal and financial jeopardy. Connor himself lands in financial trouble after Willa's play proves to be a critical and commercial flop; he asks Logan for loan of $100 million to cover the play's losses (on top of various other expenses), and Logan agrees so long as Connor suspend his presidential campaign. Connor is devastated, but complies.

After Kendall's surprise public statement naming Logan responsible for overseeing the cruises cover-up, Connor meets with Kendall alongside the other siblings to understand his motives, and is the only one to acknowledge the family's knowledge and complicity in the misconduct. He ultimately decides to remain aligned with Logan, but refuses to co-sign an open letter Shiv drafted attacking Kendall in public. Connor later decides to push his presidential campaign four years out, and seeks to obtain a role at Waystar in the interim to improve his credibility. He briefly sees a chance to reignite his campaign in the present when the sitting president chooses to step down, but fails to convince his family to back him during a conservative donor event in search of a new Republican nominee. During Caroline's wedding in Tuscany, Connor proposes to Willa, who is initially apprehensive but accepts after noticing Connor's dejection over Logan choosing to sell Waystar's ownership to tech giant GoJo.

Six months later, Connor and Willa host their wedding ceremony on a yacht in New York. However, Logan dies that day en route to Sweden, and the siblings receive the news from Tom while at the wedding. Connor and Willa have a candid conversation about their relationship, where Willa admits that while Connor's family fortune offers her security, she is genuinely happy with him; the two go through with their wedding in a small ceremony while the other siblings receive their father's body at the airport. Connor then purchases Logan's apartment from Marcia and takes charge in planning his funeral. Connor's presidential polling soon escalates enough to draw support away from Jeryd Mencken, a far-right Congressman backed by the Roys.

Jeremy Strong

• played by Jeremy Strong

Kendall is the second son of Logan Roy from his second marriage. The presumed successor to Logan, Kendall is struggling to prove his worth to his father amid bungling major deals and battling with substance abuse, as well as toiling to maintain a relationship with his estranged wife Rava, his siblings, and his children.

Kendall studied at the Buckley School, then both Harvard University (where he served as the president of The Harvard Lampoon) and Columbia University, which he attended alongside his best friend Stewy Hosseini. He also spent time in Shanghai learning the fundamentals of the family business. With his wife, Rava, he has a daughter, Sophie, and a son, Iverson. Kendall's substance-abuse issues eventually led to the breakdown of his marriage, and he went on to spend months in rehab prior to the start of the series. Throughout the series, Kendall is shown to be well-versed in business principles but intellectually insecure and lacking in authenticity and people-skills. He is an avid lover of hip hop and a strong believer in the technology industry and new media.

Kendall is Logan's presumed heir upon the latter's retirement, but Logan announces during his 80th birthday that he will remain CEO indefinitely. During this time, Kendall narrowly negotiates Waystar's acquisition of media startup Vaulter, whose founder Lawrence Yee holds Kendall and Waystar in contempt. After Logan suffers a stroke and is admitted to the hospital, it is agreed that Kendall become acting CEO with Roman as COO. Kendall consults Stewy's financial aid to prevent having to repay Waystar's $3 billion debt from its expansion into parks, unaware that Stewy is allied with Logan's longtime rival Sandy Furness. Logan eventually recovers from his stroke and announces that he will return as CEO, but continues displaying erratic behavior. Kendall plots a vote of no confidence against his father, but it fails and Logan fires him for his disloyalty. A bitter Kendall relapses on drugs during a family therapy retreat, and spends the following weeks aggressively investing in startups while on a binge. During Tom's bachelor party, Kendall is approached by Stewy and Sandy, who offer to buy out his share of Waystar for half a billion; a vengeful Kendall instead proposes a hostile takeover that will grant them a controlling interest in the company and name him CEO. Kendall serves Logan with the bid during Shiv's wedding. However, he later gets into a car accident while under the influence of drugs, resulting in the death of a caterer from the wedding. Logan promises to make the case go away if Kendall backs out of the takeover; Kendall obliges and breaks down crying in his father's arms.

Over the following months, Kendall, still reeling from the trauma of the accident, becomes staunchly loyal to Logan, who names him his co-COO alongside Roman in order to help fight the takeover bid. Logan forces him to shut down Vaulter, as its poor performance is proving a financial sink for Waystar. Logan decides to buy rival news giant Pierce Global Media (PGM); during a weekend retreat between the Roys and Pierces, Kendall begins a sexual relationship with Naomi Pierce, a fellow addict and influential board member whom he convinces to back the acquisition. However, the deal ultimately fails after Waystar's decades-long cover-up of sexual exploitation on the company's cruise lines becomes public. The Roys are called to testify before the Senate, and Kendall delivers a combative performance that wins them the case but sets the company back against the shareholders, who demand accountability. Despite being privately advised by investors to accept responsibility himself, Logan chooses Kendall to take the fall for the scandal, as he was across the cover-up during his tenure as CEO. Kendall obliges, and asks his father whether he ever saw him fit to run the company, but Logan tells him he is not the "killer" he must be in order to succeed. The following morning, Kendall gives a press conference where he is set to accept the blame for the scandal, but he suddenly deviates from his prepared remarks and names Logan personally responsible for overseeing the cover-up of the crimes.

Kendall takes on a manic, self-aggrandizing zeal following his announcement, frequently ignoring the advice of his lawyers and PR consultants in favor of chasing publicity. He also unsuccessfully attempts to convince his siblings to join him against their father. Kendall's legal battle with Waystar dissipates after his poor performance in a testimony to the Department of Justice, who deem the documents Kendall has recovered on the cruises scandal to be insufficient legal ammunition against Waystar and instead reach a settlement with the company. On his 40th birthday, Kendall receives an offer from Logan to buy out his shares in the company for $2 billion. Kendall gives up on trying to defeat his father and decides to take the buyout to permanently uncouple himself from the family, but Logan ultimately refuses his request and rebuffs him, prompting a despondent Kendall to attempt suicide by drowning while in Tuscany for his mother's wedding. During the wedding, Kendall suffers an emotional breakdown and confesses his role in the fatal car accident at Shiv's wedding to Shiv and Roman, who support him. The three learn Logan is selling Waystar to tech giant GoJo without their input, jeopardizing their control of the company, and decide to form a supermajority to veto Logan's decision. However, Tom tips off Logan on the children's revolt, allowing him to renegotiate his divorce settlement with Caroline prior to the children's arrival and deprive them of their voting power in the holding company. The siblings are effectively left powerless within Waystar.

Six months later, Kendall, Roman and Shiv are estranged from Logan and planning an independent media venture they call "The Hundred". However, on Logan's birthday, they learn their father is attempting to buy PGM again, and successfully outbid him. They then partner with Stewy and Sandi, who want to negotiate a price increase for the GoJo sale, to spitefully pressure Logan into renegotiating the deal with GoJo founder Lukas Matsson. However, Logan dies en route to his meeting with Matsson in Sweden; the siblings learn of his death while at Connor's wedding. At Logan's wake, Frank finds an undated document in Logan's safe naming Kendall his successor. Kendall is profoundly affected by this news, but agrees to run the company alongside Roman to honor the stipulation that COO take over. Drawn to the power of being CEO and skeptical of Matsson's vision for the company, Kendall enlists Roman's aid in sabotaging the GoJo deal. He delivers a bombastic product launch at Waystar's Investor Day in hopes of driving up the company's valuation and rendering GoJo's acquisition untenable, and later attempts to block the sale on regulatory grounds. Upon learning that GoJo has inflated its subscriber count in India, Kendall proposes to Frank that Waystar buy GoJo with Kendall as the sole CEO.

Kieran Culkin

• played by Kieran Culkin

Roman is the third and youngest son of Logan Roy from his second marriage. He is desperate for attention and approval from his father, which at times puts him at odds with his siblings, particularly Kendall and Shiv. Throughout the series, Roman is shown to have quick wit and business savvy that is marred by his inability to take himself seriously.

Logan was physically abusive towards Roman during his childhood, and it is implied that he was singled out by his father in this regard. Additionally, Roman's siblings would lock him in a dog cage when they were children, a game they claim he enjoyed. Following this incident, Logan sent Roman to military school for an unspecified period of time. Roman is also shown to struggle with performing sexually throughout the series; he discovers in the second season he has a fetish for being humiliated. Prior to the events of the first season, Roman was placed in charge of Waystar's film studio in Los Angeles - with COO Frank Vernon assigned to monitor his performance - only to perform poorly at his job.

After Logan suffers a stroke during his 80th birthday, Kendall becomes acting CEO of Waystar with Roman as COO. Roman generally ignores his responsibilities during this period, and his girlfriend Grace breaks up with him after he continually disregards her. Though Logan soon recovers from his stroke and announces he will remain CEO, he continues displaying erratic and unstable behavior, leading Kendall to plot a vote of no confidence against his father alongside Roman and several members of the company's senior management. However, the vote ultimately fails, in part due to Roman reneging on voting with Kendall after Logan berates him into siding with him. Logan fires Kendall and keeps Roman on as COO, placing him in charge of a satellite launch out of Japan. Roman pushes for the launch to occur on the day of Shiv's wedding, ignoring safety concerns in the process, and the rocket explodes on the launchpad; Roman is relieved to learn from Gerri that no one was killed.

After Stewy and Sandy go public with their takeover bid, Roman and Kendall are made co-COOs; Roman bristles at the arrangement, still upset with Kendall for helping plot the takeover in the first place and unaware of the circumstances that led to his backing out. Gerri advises that Roman enroll in Waystar's management training course to learn the fundamentals of the company and earn his father's respect. Roman obliges, and begins a sexual flirtation with Gerri, who indulges his newfound fetish for verbal humiliation. He begins to defer to Gerri as a close and trusted mentor. With only Gerri being able to meet his sexual needs, Roman struggles to build intimacy with his girlfriend Tabitha, who he met at Tom's bachelor party.

After a scandal involving Waystar's cover-up of sex crimes on their cruise lines goes public, Roman befriends Azerbaijani billionaire Eduard Asgarov in an attempt to secure financial aid for Waystar from the sovereign wealth. Roman and Eduard buy the Heart of Midlothian football club as a gift for Logan's 50th anniversary at Waystar, forgetting that he in fact supports the rival Hibs. While the Roys are called to testify before the Senate regarding the cruises scandal, Logan sends Roman along with his CFO Karl Muller and financier Jamie Laird to secure funding from Eduard's family so Waystar can go private. Roman travels to Turkey to make his pitch, but he and his associates are held hostage by anti-corruption militia, who are there to seize key assets on behalf of the Turkish government. Shaken by the experience, Roman returns from Turkey with a heightened clarity, admitting to Logan that the Azeris' investment offer is likely illegitimate.

When Kendall gives a press conference publicly naming Logan responsible for overseeing the cover-up of the cruises incidents, Logan decides to temporarily step back as CEO and install a figurehead in his place. Gerri is eventually named acting CEO, with Roman having lobbied for her to take the title. Roman is pleased with the arrangement, hoping to use Gerri's mentorship to steward his own growth within the company. He and his siblings meet with Kendall, who attempts to convince them to back him against their father, but Roman remains loyal to Logan. Roman lands himself in his father's good graces after convincing him to back fascist Congressman Jeryd Mencken as the new presidential frontrunner, as well as establishing inroads with Lukas Matsson, CEO of tech giant GoJo, with whom Logan is considering a merger.

However, Roman falls out of favor with his father when he accidentally sends a photo of his penis to Logan instead of Gerri, who has begun rejecting Roman's sexual advances. Roman later comforts Kendall when the latter tearfully confesses his role in a fatal car accident at Shiv's wedding. The siblings learn that Logan has decided to sell Waystar to GoJo without their input, jeopardizing their chances of taking over the company, and attempt to veto Logan's decision as a supermajority in the holding company. However, Logan learns of their revolt from Tom and renegotiates his divorce settlement with Caroline to void the children's voting rights, effectively leaving them powerless in the company after the merger with GoJo.

Six months later, Roman, Kendall and Shiv are estranged from Logan and planning an independent media venture they call "The Hundred". However, on Logan's birthday, they learn their father is attempting to buy PGM again, and successfully outbid him. They then partner with Stewy and Sandi, who want to negotiate a price increase for the GoJo sale, to spitefully pressure Logan into renegotiating the deal with GoJo founder Lukas Matsson. However, Logan dies en route to his meeting with Matsson in Sweden; the siblings learn of his death while at Connor's wedding. At Logan's wake, Frank finds an undated document in Logan's safe naming Kendall his successor. Kendall agrees to run the company alongside Roman to honor the stipulation in the draft succession plan that COO take over.

Roman and Kendall, skeptical of Matsson's vision and wishing to continue running the company, resolve to sabotage the GoJo deal; Roman lashes out at Matsson during a negotiation in Norway after Matsson repeatedly insults the brothers, berating him for summoning them overseas for a retreat mere days after their father's death. Roman continues to feel insecure about his worth as Logan's successor, and fires both Joy Palmer - head of Waystar's film studio - and Gerri, who chastises him for firing Joy. Roman attempts to reverse course with Gerri, only to learn she has already negotiated a hefty severance agreement and will sue Roman for sexual harassment if her demands are not met.

The night of the presidential election, Roman pushes aggressively to have Mencken announced as the winner by ATN, disregarding the political consequences in favor of Waystar's business interests, particularly after Mencken promises to block the GoJo deal on regulatory grounds. Mencken is ultimately announced as the President-elect, though a fire at a Wisconsin voting center leaves uncertainty over whether he truly won the vote.

Sarah Snook

• played by Sarah Snook

Siobhan, commonly referred to as "Shiv", is the youngest child and only daughter of Logan Roy from his second marriage. She is a left-leaning political fixer who previously distanced herself from her family company until finally receiving an offer of leadership from Logan. She is married to Tom Wambsgans, whom she loves but frequently disregards.

During her childhood, Shiv had an acrimonious relationship with her mother Caroline following her parents' divorce; Caroline resented the time they did not get to spend together, blaming Shiv for her supposed preference for Logan. Shiv is implied to have been herself treated preferentially among the children by her father - who affectionately calls her "Pinky" - but Logan focused his efforts solely on Kendall and Roman in grooming his potential successors. Shiv met Tom while reeling from a painful breakup with a man dubbed "TK"; the two enjoyed a courtship in France and eventually fell in love.

Shiv spends the first season largely distanced from company affairs, working as a campaign consultant for Democratic Senator Joyce Miller. She is shown to be shrewd, competent, and more resistant to her father's wishes than her siblings. Tom proposes to her in the hospital while Logan is recovering from a stroke, and she accepts. Shiv's ex-boyfriend and fellow political fixer Nate Sofrelli reconnects with her and convinces her to join him in working for Senator Gil Eavis, also a presidential candidate with staunch liberal views and a longtime vendetta against Logan and Waystar. Shiv and Nate reignite their affair during the process, unbeknownst to Tom. During her wedding, Shiv admits her affair with Nate to Tom and asks for a non-monogamous marriage; Tom is understanding, though he soon grows to resent the arrangement for solely benefiting Shiv.

After Sandy and Stewy publicize their takeover bid, Logan privately offers the CEO position to Shiv; despite initial incredulity, Shiv is elated and happily accepts, even going as far as quitting Gil's campaign. However, Shiv gradually comes to realize that Logan's offer was not genuine, and, in a panic, blurts out the news of her planned succession to both her family and the rival Pierces during a corporate retreat. Her insecurity worsens as Logan grows closer to Pierce Media's CEO Rhea Jarrell, whom Shiv fears is scheming to take over the company, and she works to sabotage Rhea's ascension. During Congressional hearings on the Brightstar Cruises sexual misconduct scandal, Shiv helps track down a victim set to be called as a witness and talks her out of testifying. After the hearings, the Roys take a cruise where they determine who to sacrifice as the scapegoat for the scandal. Shiv suggests Tom, prompting him to finally admit his unhappiness in their marriage. Feeling guilty, Shiv begs Logan not to sacrifice Tom, leading Logan to choose Kendall.

After Kendall delivers a surprise statement naming Logan responsible for overseeing the cover-up of the crimes, Logan decides to temporarily step back as CEO. He names Shiv President of Domestic Operations at Waystar, which she quickly comes to learn is a figurehead title that is earning her little respect from within the company. However, Shiv manages to successfully negotiate the terms of a settlement with Stewy and Sandi at Waystar's shareholder meeting, thereby preserving the Roys' majority ownership in the company. Shiv and Logan remain at odds after she protests Waystar's backing of controversial far-right Congressman Jeryd Mencken for the presidency.

Shiv's relationship with Tom continues to strain during this period: she becomes irritated with his paranoia about going to prison for the scandal, and is ambivalent about his desire to have a child with her. However, she changes her mind about the latter after a bitter conversation with her mother at the latter's wedding in Italy, where Caroline says she regrets having children. The siblings learn at the wedding that Logan plans to sell Waystar to tech giant GoJo, effectively leaving them without an inheritance, and resolve to halt the sale by invoking a clause in Logan's divorce agreement granting the children veto power over any change in company control. Shiv informs Tom of her plans, but he realizes she has not considered where he will fall under the siblings' alliance. The siblings discover Logan has already renegotiated the divorce agreement by the time they arrive to confront him, and Shiv discovers it was Tom who betrayed her by tipping off Logan about his children's revolt.

Six months later, Shiv and Tom are on trial separation and seeking a divorce. Shiv is secretly 20 weeks pregnant, which she hides from her family. Shiv and her siblings are estranged from Logan and planning an independent media venture they call "The Hundred". However, on Logan's birthday, they learn their father is attempting to buy PGM again, and successfully outbid him. They then partner with Stewy and Sandi - who want to negotiate a price increase for the GoJo sale - to spitefully pressure Logan into renegotiating the deal with GoJo founder Lukas Matsson. However, Logan dies en route to his meeting with Matsson in Sweden; the siblings learn of his death while at Connor's wedding, and Shiv reads a statement to the press announcing their father's passing.

At Logan's wake, the family discovers a document in Logan's safe naming Kendall his successor; Kendall and Roman opt to run the company together as co-CEOs, leaving Shiv uncertain about her position. Shiv attempts to curry favor with Matsson amidst her brothers' attempts to sabotage the GoJo deal, but regrets it once she discovers Matsson has inflated GoJo's subscriber numbers, putting the company's future in jeopardy. She and Tom get into a vicious argument about their marriage during a party they host the night before the presidential election, where Tom tells her he regrets marrying her and that she is unfit to be a mother.

Shiv attempts to apologize to Tom the following day during the election, but Tom is unreceptive; she finally tells him she is pregnant with his child, but is hurt when Tom reacts skeptically, believing it to be a manipulation tactic. During the election, Shiv hopes for Democratic candidate Daniel Jiménez to win the presidency, knowing he will allow the GoJo deal will go through, and is deeply concerned about the threat that Mencken's fascist agenda poses to American democracy. Kendall turns on her after learning she is working with Matsson, and she is powerless to stop her brothers from okaying ATN to call the election in Mencken's favor.

Matthew Macfadyen

• played by Matthew Macfadyen

Tom is Shiv's fiancé and later husband, and a Waystar executive. He is promoted from heading the amusement park and cruise division to running ATN, the company's global news outlet. He is a people-pleaser and enjoys his proximity to the Roy family's power but is frequently dismissed by the family's inner circle, and uses underlings like Greg to wield his power. He is originally from St. Paul, Minnesota.

Tom is said to have met Shiv during a turbulent period in her life - implied to be a painful breakup with her previous partner - and yearns to be a devoted partner to her. However, he privately carries great insecurity over his one-sided relationship with both his wife and extended family, and begins expressing his rage and lust for power primarily through his relationship with Greg - a fellow outsider whom he feels he can bully and manipulate. Upon receiving his new role as head of Waystar's Parks & Cruises division, Tom is given documents by his predecessor Bill Lockheart attesting to a massive internal cover-up of decades-long sexual misconduct on the company's cruise lines. Panicked, Tom confides the information to Greg and plans to go public with it, but Gerri warns him not to; Tom then has Greg shred the documents, though Greg secretly makes copies. During his bachelor party, Tom has an embarrassing sexual encounter with a woman named Tabitha, whom he later discovers is dating Roman. At their wedding, Shiv admits to Tom that she cheated on him with her ex-boyfriend Nate Sofrelli, and asks for an open marriage; Tom forgives her and ejects Nate from the wedding.

After Stewy and Sandy's takeover bid goes public, Shiv gets Tom promoted to the Chair of Global Broadcast News at ATN. Tom is initially elated, given that ATN is Waystar's profit center, and enlists Greg's help in finding ways to improve the network's efficiency in an attempt to upstage its combative leader, Cyd Peach. However, Tom loses his confidence after Shiv reveals Logan offered her the role of CEO, which Tom hoped to inherit; his resentment over his marriage also worsens after he realizes Shiv is using the open arrangement to have affairs behind his back. Unhappy with the culture of ATN, Greg reveals to Tom that he kept copies of the cruises documents and blackmails him to giving him a promotion. Tom is initially impressed with Greg's audacity, but later forces him to give up the copies after the cruises scandal goes public and Tom is pressured by an internal investigation. Tom and Greg burn the copies together, though Greg covertly withholds some of them. During Senate hearings on the cruises scandal, Tom performs disastrously against Senator Eavis' questions and realizes he was set up as the company's scapegoat. During a family vacation, Tom finally admits to Shiv that he resents the way she has treated him; Shiv, feeling guilty, begs Logan not to have Tom take the fall for the crimes to appease the shareholders. Logan ultimately chooses Kendall, who instead names Logan responsible for covering up the scandal in a press conference.

Tom remains loyal to Logan amidst Kendall's whistleblowing campaign. His legal counselors tell him he will likely spend time in prison, so he decides to volunteer himself to Logan as a scapegoat for incarceration, hoping it will present a tactical advantage. Tom gradually becomes consumed with anxiety at the prospect of going to prison, and feels emasculated at having to report to his wife after Logan appoints Shiv as the company's President of Domestic Operations. Kendall unsuccessfully attempts to recruit Tom to his side, but Tom is skeptical of Kendall's ability to win against his father. Tom is saved from having to go to prison after Gerri negotiates a settlement with the Department of Justice. Tom wishes to have a child with Shiv to enshrine his legacy at Waystar; Shiv is initially apprehensive, but changes her mind after a bitter exchange with her mother at the latter's wedding in Italy. Tom learns from Shiv that Logan plans to sell Waystar to tech giant GoJo, whose founder Lukas Matsson will take over as CEO. Tom betrays Shiv and her siblings by telling Logan of their attempt to stop the sale, effectively ending their chances of inheriting the company.

Six months later, Tom enjoys Logan's trust as a member of his inner circle, while he and Shiv are on a trial separation and seeking a divorce. Tom is unaware that Shiv is pregnant, which she has kept secret from her family. Logan brings Tom along to negotiate with Matsson in Sweden, only to suddenly die en route from a heart attack. Tom calls the siblings to break the news of their father's death. He then makes a futile attempt to get back in the remaining Roys' good graces. He and Shiv begin to show signs of rekindling their marriage after Tom apologizes for betraying her, but when the two host a party at their apartment the night prior to the presidential election, Tom is enraged by rumors that Matsson will fire him from ATN. This leads to a vicious argument between he and Shiv about the various problems in their marriage, where they mutually declare their contempt for one another.

Nicholas Braun

• played by Nicholas Braun

Greg is Logan's great-nephew and grandson of Ewan Roy. Greg is unfamiliar with the rough terrain he must navigate to win over Logan, and finds himself indentured to Tom Wambsgans in his quest for a place at Waystar and with the family. Though he is presented as bumbling and awkward, Greg is shown to possess a keen instinct for survival and a penchant for scheming.

Greg is initially estranged from the rest of the family and working at one of the company's theme parks. However, he is fired on his first day after getting intoxicated and vomiting out of his costume. Greg's mother Marianne admonishes him to attend Logan's 80th birthday and ask him for a job. Greg obliges and meets the rest of the family in the process; Tom immediately begins to prey on him, recognizing him as a fellow outsider susceptible to manipulation. Tom soon learns of a widespread cover-up of sexual abuse on the company's cruise lines, and confides the information to Greg, hoping to publicize it; Greg secretly tells Gerri, who talks Tom out of holding a press conference. Tom then has Greg shred the documents; Greg secretly makes copies. He reveals this to Kendall during Shiv and Tom's wedding; Kendall is impressed.

Greg grows closer to Kendall over the following months, delivering him cocaine and receiving a lavish Manhattan apartment from him as a gift. He begins working at ATN after Tom is promoted to Chair of Global Broadcast News, but is uncomfortable with the network's politics and work culture. He soon reveals to Tom that he kept copies of the cruises documents and blackmails him into giving him a promotion. Tom is impressed and agrees, but later forces Greg to help him destroy the copies after the cruises scandal goes public and the company is subject to an internal investigation. Greg covertly withholds some of the copies while burning the rest with Tom. Ewan, who despises Logan and Waystar, threatens to cut off Greg's $250 million inheritance unless Greg stops working for the company, but Greg chooses to stay. After Senate hearings on the cruises scandal, which link him to the document destruction, Greg decides to ally himself with Kendall, bringing the documents along to Kendall's press conference as proof that Logan personally oversaw the cover-ups and settlements with the victims.

Over that day, Greg becomes paranoid about being targeted by the authorities for his handling of the documents, and seeks out Ewan for legal representation. Ewan hires his own personal attorney Roger Pugh to represent Greg, but Pugh, an anticapitalist, hints that he and Ewan want to use Greg's insider position at Waystar to their own advantage. Greg soon ends his alliance with Kendall after meeting with Logan, who encourages him to use his leverage to negotiate a better position at Waystar in exchange for signing a joint defense agreement with the company's legal team. Greg agrees, hoping to secure an executive position at the parks department. However, his decision to remain loyal to Waystar alienates him from both Kendall - who threatens to give him up to federal authorities - as well as from Ewan, who cuts off Greg's inheritance and instead donates his entire estate to Greenpeace. Greg in turn decides to sue Greenpeace as a ploy to reclaim his inheritance. Midway through, Greg is seen flirting with Comfry, one of Kendall's assistants, who hesitatingly accepts. Later at Caroline's wedding in Tuscany, Greg also attempts to court an Italian contessa who has royal ties to the monarch of Luxembourg. He then accepts Tom's deal that would grant him a higher position in the company, after the latter's fears of going to prison finally resolved.

Hiam Abbass

• played by Hiam Abbass (seasons 1–2; recurring season 3)

Marcia is the third wife of Logan Roy. Born and raised in Beirut, she is often at odds with Logan's children, whose trust she has yet to earn. She has a son, Amir, from her first marriage, as well as an unnamed daughter. She is a main cast member in the first two seasons and appears in a recurring capacity in season three.

Logan initially revises his trust agreement to name Marcia his chief beneficiary upon his death, panicking his children (none of whom trust Marcia). However, Logan suffers a stroke on his 80th birthday and is rushed to the hospital, leading Kendall and Waystar senior management to disregard the unsigned agreement. Marcia cares for Logan over the course of his recovery, and strives to keep the family united amid their frequent quarrels. However, she is shown to have great contempt for Logan's children, whom she believes to be spoilt and entitled. Marcia and her son Amir become aware of Kendall's involvement in a fatal car crash at Shiv's wedding, and are complicit in Logan's cover-up.

After Stewy and Sandy go public with a takeover bid for Waystar's ownership, Marcia advises that Logan sell the company, finding his age and stubbornness to be detriments to his leadership. She becomes resentful of Logan after he unilaterally decides to pursue the acquisition of rival news giant Pierce Global Media (PGM) and grows closer to its CEO, Rhea Jarrell. Between a family dinner between the Roys and the Pierces, Marcia becomes inebriated and makes several cutting remarks to Logan in front of everyone gathered at the table. She soon realizes that Rhea and Logan are likely having an affair, and walks out in disgust after Logan names Rhea his successor without telling her beforehand.

After Kendall's press conference naming his father responsible for the cover-up of crimes on Waystar's cruises, Logan has Marcia flown into Sarajevo, where he and the senior management have set up a temporary base of operations. Logan's team advises that he and Marcia appear publicly reconciled to help the company's image. Marcia, feeling betrayed by Logan's infidelity, demands a number of assurances from the company to ensure her cooperation, including increases to her financial position and protection for her children. She insinuates to Logan that he can use the car crash as leverage against Kendall, but Logan reminds her that his own involvement in the cover-up makes him equally culpable.

After Logan's death, Marcia oversees his wake and funeral planning, telling Kendall that she and Logan maintained an "intimate" correspondence even after their separation. Marcia is aware of Logan's affair with his assistant, Kerry, whom she ejects from the wake.

• played by Natalie Gold (season 1; guest season 3)

Rava is Kendall's estranged wife, with whom he has two children. She appears as a main cast member in season one only, before returning in a guest role in seasons three and four.

Rava and Kendall's marriage breaks down as a result of the latter's drug addiction, and she divorces him. The two remain friendly and even have sex again after Logan's stroke, but Rava is insistent on continuing with the divorce; Kendall, who still yearns for her approval, is dismayed. Rava soon learns at Shiv's wedding that Kendall has relapsed on his drug usage, and the two distance themselves from one another, though Kendall still occasionally sees his children.

After his bombshell press conference naming his father responsible for covering up the Brightstar Cruises scandal, Kendall arrives unannounced to Rava's apartment and begins using it as a temporary base of operations, to her quiet chagrin. Rava later tells Kendall at his 40th birthday that Waystar has sent men to harass her and the family over Kendall's poor parenting. After Waystar backs far-right Congressman Jeryd Mencken for the presidency, Rava tells Kendall that their daughter Sophie is being harassed by classmates for her family's association with ATN, but Kendall refuses to accept responsibility.

• played by Peter Friedman

Francis "Frank" Vernon is the chief operating officer of Waystar RoyCo. He is a longtime confidant of Logan Roy, and a member of his old guard, having been with the company for 30 years. He is Kendall's godfather and mentor, who he frequently relies to help win back Logan's favor. He is disliked by Roman, which stems from their days working together at the Los Angeles branch of Waystar.

• played by Parker Sawyers (pilot only)

Alessandro is an executive of Waystar RoyCo, who is present during the Vaulter acquisition meetings. Sawyers is credited with the main cast in the pilot episode only. The character was dropped from the show when it was picked up for series, with Gerri filling a similar role from the second episode onwards.

• played by Rob Yang (seasons 1–2)

Lawrence is the founder of the media website Vaulter that is acquired by Waystar RoyCo, portrayed by Rob Yang. He holds great contempt for Waystar and Kendall in particular, with whom he is often at odds. Although he is credited in every episode of the first two seasons, he is phased quickly out of the show, with only two appearances in season two, after Vaulter is shut down by Kendall.

• played by J. Smith-Cameron (seasons 2–4; recurring season 1)

Gerri is the general counsel to Waystar RoyCo. She has been with the company for 20 years. She is Shiv's godmother and close confidant of the Roys, in particular Roman, with whom she develops a flirtation and a sexual relationship.[5] She first appears in "Shit Show at the Fuck Factory" and continues in a recurring role through the first season, before being promoted to the main cast from season two. In the third season, Logan temporarily steps back as CEO after Kendall publicly exposes his role in covering up the Brightstar Cruises sexual misconduct scandal. Gerri is named acting CEO in his place. She leverages her contacts at the Department of Justice to contain the legal fallout from the cruises scandal, reducing Waystar's penalty to just a fine (albeit a hefty one).

Gerri and Roman's relationship eventually proves catastrophic: after she rejects his advances, Roman sends Gerri several unwanted pictures of his genitalia, but mistakenly sends one to Logan after successfully closing a merger with tech giant GoJo. Logan begins having doubts about retaining Gerri's services in light of a potential scandal. Logan feels further threatened by Gerri's presence after selling Waystar to GoJo, and decides to fire her for her perceived mishandling of the fallout from the cruises scandal. Roman is tasked with delivering her the unsavory news at Connor's wedding, but Logan dies shortly thereafter, and Gerri remains on Waystar's executive team. However, Roman himself decides to impulsively fire Gerri after she reprimands him for firing Joy Palmer, head of Waystar Studios. He regrets his decision and attempts to reverse course, but Gerri tells him she has negotiated a hefty severance agreement, and that she will publicly sue Roman for sexual harassment if her demands are not met.

• played by Justine Lupe (season 3; recurring season 1–2)

Willa is Connor's younger girlfriend. She is a call girl and aspiring playwright, who eventually leaves sex work to pursue a career in theatre. She first appears in "Shit Show at the Fuck Factory" and continues in a recurring role through the first two seasons, before being promoted to main cast from season three.[6]

• played by Dagmara Domińczyk (seasons 2–3; recurring season 1)

Karolina is the head of public relations at Waystar RoyCo. She first appears in "Shit Show at the Fuck Factory" and continues in a recurring role through the first season, before being promoted to main cast from season two.

• played by David Rasche (season 3; recurring season 1–2)

Karl is Waystar RoyCo's chief financial officer. He first appears in "Shit Show at the Fuck Factory" and continues in a recurring role through the first two seasons, before being promoted to main cast from season three.[6]

Karl has worked at Waystar for 23 years and is one of Logan's most trusted associates; he is suggested to have negotiated a major cable news deal in the 1990s, and is implied to frequently solicit prostitutes. He helps Logan defend the company against Stewy and Sandy's takeover bid, though he and most of senior management are opposed to Logan's planned acquisition of Pierce Global Media (PGM). Logan forces Karl along with Tom and Greg to participate in a vicious hazing ritual called "Boar on the Floor" to root out the source of a leak to the Pierces regarding his acquisition plans, though he soon learns that Roman was the one who made the call. Karl accompanies Roman and Jamie Laird, Logan's financial adviser, to Turkey to make a pitch to Azerbaijani billionaire Eduard Asgarov to finance Waystar's privatization. Despite making a successful pitch, Roman admits to Logan that the offer is likely illegitimate, which Karl backs up.

As CFO, Karl is key to finalizing the details of Logan's sale of Waystar to Lukas Matsson, founder and CEO of streaming giant GoJo. After Logan's death, Karl and Frank discover a document in his safe naming Kendall his successor; Karl is concerned, since he plans to retire soon and purchase a Greek island with his brother-in-law, and does not want the company jeopardized at the end of his tenure. Kendall and Roman become co-CEOs, where they spearhead negotiations with Matsson and obtain an offer for $192 per share. GoJo sends a "kill list" consisting of Waystar employees they want to terminate in favor of their own team; Karl is happy to be included on the list given his impending retirement.

• played by Arian Moayed (season 2; recurring season 1, 3)

Stewy is Kendall's friend from college. He is a private-equity investor with a seat on Waystar's board, and is covertly in partnership with Logan's rival Sandy Furness. He first appears in "Lifeboats" and continues in a recurring role through the first season, before being promoted to main cast in season two. He returns in a guest role in season three.

After Kendall becomes acting CEO of Waystar in the wake of Logan's stroke, he learns that the company is $3 billion in debt due to its expansion into parks, and that the family holding company is entitled to demand full repayment if Waystar's stock falls below 130 points. Kendall goes to Stewy, who agrees to inject Waystar with $4 billion in exchange for a seat on Waystar's board. Kendall soon plots a vote of no confidence against his father and asks Stewy to back him, though Stewy warns that he will side with whoever wins. He ultimately abstains from the vote, causing it to fail (with Kendall being fired by Logan), and continues advising Logan on how to maintain the company's valuation. At Tom's bachelor party, Stewy approaches Kendall, who feels betrayed, and offers to buy out his share in Waystar for half a billion dollars. He reveals his partnership with Sandy, who has a shell company attached to Stewy's private equity fund. Kendall, feeling vengeful against Logan, instead proposes a hostile takeover with him as CEO and Stewy and Sandy with a controlling interest in the company. Stewy and Kendall finalize and deliver the bid at Shiv's wedding in England, knowing Logan will be more vulnerable while out of the United States. However, a drug-addled Kendall gets involved in a fatal car crash that kills a waiter, with Logan covering it up while forcing Kendall to back out of the bid. Kendall refuses to tell Stewy the truth about why he is suddenly reversing course.

Stewy and Sandy continue to persuade key shareholders to join their side of the proxy battle. After the Brightstar Cruises sexual misconduct scandal goes public, Kendall and Logan meet with Stewy in Greece and offer to dismiss all litigation on the proxy battle in exchange for Stewy providing the company with financing to go private, but Stewy flatly refuses. After Kendall publicly names his father responsible for the cruises cover-up, he meets with Stewy and Sandi Furness (Sandy's daughter) to propose a partnership, warning that Logan would sideline them and that together they can avoid a contested shareholder vote. Stewy and Sandi are skeptical, but offer to reach a settlement with the Roys in the event of their winning ownership of the company. Waystar eventually reaches a settlement with Stewy and Sandi during the company's annual shareholder meeting, granting both sides an additional board seat.

One day before the board meeting finalizing the acquisition of Waystar by streaming giant GoJo, Stewy and Sandi enlist the siblings in vetoing the sale to request a price increase. The siblings join out of spite for Logan, who sold the company behind their backs and effectively ended their chances of succeeding him, but Logan dies en route to his meeting to renegotiate the sale with GoJo founder Lukas Matsson. At Logan's wake, Kendall learns Logan named him successor in an undated document, and has Stewy advocate for him and Roman to lead the company as co-CEOs to Waystar's executive team.

• played by Fisher Stevens (season 3; recurring season 2)

Hugo is a senior communications executive at Waystar RoyCo. He is in charge of managing a scandal involving Brightstar cruise lines. He first appears in "Argestes" and continues in a recurring role through season two, before being promoted to main cast from season three.[6]

• played by Alexander Skarsgård (season 4; recurring season 3)

Lukas Matsson is the eccentric Swedish founder and CEO of tech giant GoJo. The character has drawn comparisons to real-life figures such as Elon Musk, Peter Thiel and Daniel Ek.[7] Skarsgård first appears as Matsson in "Too Much Birthday" and continues in a recurring role for the remainder of season 3, before being credited alongside the main cast in season 4 for the episodes in which he appears.

Logan initially plans for Waystar to acquire GoJo, and Roman draws Matsson's interest after meeting with him at Kendall's birthday party, despite Matsson's personal distaste for Logan. Roman's proposal centers on entertainment, suggesting that GoJo's streaming technology can bolster Waystar's vast content library. However, while the Roys are in Tuscany for Caroline's wedding, Matsson begins posting cryptic Tweets about the GoJo's financing to drive up the company's stock price; Roman meets with Matsson at the latter's Lake Maggiore villa and learns he wants a merger of equals with Waystar. He passes on the proposal to Logan, who is receptive on the condition that Matsson is a dependable business partner.

When Logan personally meets Matsson, however, Matsson proposes that GoJo acquire Waystar with him as CEO while Logan exits with a settlement, citing Logan's age and legacy media's obsolescence as factors. Logan agrees without his children's input, jeopardizing their futures at the company. The children cut ties with Logan afterwards, hoping to use the profits from the GoJo deal to fund their independent ventures. However, 24 hours prior to the sale's completion, Stewy and Sandi lobby the siblings to vote against the deal at Waystar's board meeting in hopes of negotiating a price increase. Matsson, however, warns Kendall that he will call off the deal if pushed on price.

Logan dies en route to a meeting with Matsson in Sweden; Kendall and Roman are named interim co-CEOs in the wake of his death. Matsson then summons the remaining Roys alongside Waystar's senior brass to GoJo's annual company retreat in Norway to renegotiate the deal. Matsson offers Kendall and Roman $187 per share (compared to Waystar's floor of $144) but with ATN folded into the acquisition, which the brothers oppose. Kendall is concerned that Matsson's vision for ATN - which entails reshaping the network to resemble Bloomberg News - reflects his fundamental misunderstanding of ATN's value. Matsson later privately consults Shiv on how to avoid a harassment scandal involving Ebba, his head of PR and ex-girlfriend, to whom he repeatedly sent samples of his own blood after the two broke up.

Kendall and Roman, wishing to remain onboard as CEOs, later try to torpedo the deal by souring Matsson on the company as a whole: they run articles about the companies' clash of cultures, a show GoJo's executives a three-hour cut of a Waystar-produced film projected to be a box office bomb. Matsson, however, sees through their tactics and threatens to go directly to the board without the brothers as middlemen, dismissing them as incompetent compared to their father. Roman snaps and berates Matsson for summoning them overseas without giving them time to grieve Logan's death, and openly calls off the deal. To spite Kendall and Roman, Matsson then makes an offer directly to Waystar's senior management for $192 per share, which they immediately pass onto the board. However, Ebba later reveals to the siblings that Matsson has grossly inflated GoJo's subscriber numbers in India, which they realize could create a fatal scandal for the company.

• Isla, played by Noelle Hogan (season 1), Grace's daughter from a previous relationship. Appears in "Sad Sack Wasp Trap" and "I Went to Market".
• Tatsuya, played by Jake Choi (season 1), Lawrence's boyfriend and business associate. Appears in "Shit Show at the Fuck Factory" and "Which Side Are You On?".
• Jeane, played by Peggy J. Scott (season 1), Logan's secretary. She is later replaced by Kerry. First appears in "Sad Sack Wasp Trap".
• Amir, played by Darius Homayoun (season 1), Marcia's son who announces at Thanksgiving dinner that he has been hired to head Waystar RoyCo's animation division in Europe. Appears in "I Went to Market" and "Nobody is Ever Missing".