The world of communications and entertainment mourns the passing of one of the most important men in the industry. For four decades, Logan Roy has led Waystar Royco to the pinnacle of success. The board of shareholders has just notified that he passed away at the age of 84 due to a heart attack.
As reported by American media, a few days ago Logan Roy paid a surprise visit to the American Television Network newsroom and delivered a speech in which he outlined an aggressive vision for the conservative cable news network ahead of the U.S. presidential election.
His last message: fight and don’t give up
It was mid-afternoon, and standing on boxes of printer paper, the CEO of media conglomerate Waystar Royco urged his employees to beat ATN’s rivals.
After a few years marked by declining health, embarrassing scandals and constant speculation about his possible retirement, Roy made it clear that he had no plans to leave for good. He was going to stay to fight.
“This is not the end. I’m going to build something better. Something faster, lighter, meaner, wilder. And I’m going to do it from here, with you, you damned pirates!” he announced. These were the last words attributed to him.
Logan Roy died Sunday while traveling to Sweden aboard a company plane. He was 84 years old and on business was missing the wedding of his eldest son – and White House candidate – Connor Roy.
Family response within hours of death
“My siblings and I just want to say that Logan Roy built a great American family business,” Roy’s youngest daughter, Siobhan Roy, said in a brief statement to reporters.
“As you know, the board will be meeting in the next few hours to decide on the leadership of the company going forward. This nation has lost a passionate champion and an American titan, and we have lost a beloved father.”
This clashes with reports that the three youngest sons (Shiv, Kendall and Roman) were on the warpath with their father and in the midst of a battle to take over the progressive media outlet Pierce.
The cause of Roy’s death has not been confirmed, but he reportedly collapsed shortly after takeoff from Teterboro Airport in New Jersey, and attempts to revive him were unsuccessful.
It is believed that Roy and a team of advisors were on their way to Sweden to meet with Lukas Matsson, the CEO of streaming technology giant GoJo, to finalize the terms of a deal to acquire Waystar Royco.
Waystar Royco’s future is up in the air
Roy leaves his media empire in a dangerous state of transition that began nearly five years ago, when he suffered a debilitating stroke.
The health crisis triggered a heated battle among his sons to succeed him as CEO of Waystar Royco, turmoil that was intensified by a plot involving cash payments to women sexually assaulted by former executives of the company’s cruise division, raising questions about Roy’s leadership and prompting a Senate hearing.
The mogul tried to deflect blame for the scandal – and the ensuing cover-up – onto his second son, Kendall. But in a stunning public rebuke, the younger Roy alleged that his father was aware of the abuses and had personally approved financial payments to the victims.
“The truth is that my father is an evil presence, a bully and a liar” with a “twisted sense of loyalty to bad people” within the company, Kendall Roy told a press conference hours after testifying.
Roy was born in the port city of Dundee, Scotland, in 1938 and grew up with few of the comforts he would later enjoy; according to legend, his family home didn’t even have plumbing.
His mother, Helen Elspeth Roy, a widow, struggled to provide for Roy and his older brother, Ewan. Roy found solace in birding and was known to sometimes exaggerate his sightings, a gift for grandiosity that he would later display in his aggressive business dealings.
A sister named Rose died in infancy under mysterious circumstances; Roy is said to have blamed himself for her death, but never spoke publicly about it. Today we say goodbye to the telecommunications mogul.
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