Just like TV? 5 real-life ‘Succession’ tales from America’s biggest companies

Simone Del Rosario: HBO’S HIT SERIES SUCCESSION HAS GIVEN US A WILD LOOK AT CORPORATE POLITICS, ESPECIALLY WHEN FAMILY IS INVOLVED. IS THE REAL WORLD QUITE AS CRAZY AS WAYSTAR-ROYCO? HERE ARE THE REAL-LIFE SUCCESSION STORIES AT SOME OF AMERICA’S TOP COMPANIES IN THIS WEEK’S FIVE FOR FRIDAY.

BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY’S WARREN BUFFETT IS STICKING TO HIS SUCCESSION PICK GREG ABEL, BUT THE 92-YEAR-OLD HAS NO TIMELINE FOR STEPPING DOWN. ABEL’S BEEN AT BERKSHIRE SINCE 2000 AND RAN THE ENERGY DIVISION. AT THIS YEAR’S ANNUAL MEETING BUFFETT SAID HE’S 100% CONFIDENT IN ABEL AND SAYS ABEL’S EVEN BETTER THAN HIM IN SOME AREAS. THERE’S NO PLAN B, SO HOPEFULLY ABEL, WHO WAS NAMED SUCCESSOR TWO YEARS AGO, ISN’T TIRED OF WAITING.

AMAZON FOUNDER JEFF BEZOS APPARENTLY SHOCKED ANDY JASSY WHEN HE ASKED HIM TO SIGN ON AS HIS SUCCESSOR IN EARLY 2021. JASSY HAD BEEN INSTRUMENTAL IN GROWING A-W-S, WHICH CONTROLS AROUND A THIRD OF THE CLOUD COMPUTING MARKET.. BEZOS IS STILL EXECUTIVE CHAIR OF THE BOARD, GIVING HIM A LOT OF SWAY AS TO WHAT HAPPENS WITH LEADERSHIP. BUT AS THE THIRD WEALTHIEST PERSON ALIVE AND HIS OWN SPACE ROCKET COMPANY, HE’S GOT OTHER THINGS TO WORRY ABOUT NOW.

WALMART LIKES TO KEEP IT IN HOUSE, ALWAYS PROMOTING FROM WITHIN. IN FACT, CURRENT CEO DOUG MCMILLON STARTED UNLOADING TRUCKS FOR THE NATION’S LARGEST RETAILER AS A TEEN. HE WENT ON TO GET AN MBA AND WORKED HIS WAY UP TO THE CEO SPOT IN 2014, THE 4TH WALMART CEO SINCE FOUNDER SAM WALTON. MCMILLON PLANS TO STAY ON FOR AT LEAST 3 MORE YEARS WHILE THE COMPANY IS STILL SEARCHING FOR HIS SUCCESSOR. MEANWHILE THE WALTON FAMILY IS THE RICHEST IN THE WORLD AT A QUARTER OF A TRILLION DOLLARS, THERE ARE A FEW WALTONS ON THE BOARD AND GREG PENNER, SAM WALTON’S GRANDSON-IN-LAW, CHAIRS IT. PENNER ALSO OWNS THE DENVER BRONCOS.

APPLE CEO TIM COOK WAS BROUGHT ON BY STEVE JOBS HIMSELF IN 1998. HE OFFICIALLY TOOK OVER AS CEO IN 2011 A COUPLE OF MONTHS BEFORE JOBS DIED, AFTER FILLING IN HERE AND THERE WHEN JOBS WAS ON MEDICAL LEAVE. SINCE COOK ARRIVED IN CUPERTINO, APPLE’S ANNUAL REVENUE JUMPED FROM $6 BILL IN ‘98 TO $394 BILL IN 2022. COOK SAYS HE’S GROOMING AS MANY PEOPLE AS POSSIBLE TO BE THE NEXT CEO, BUT CURRENT COO JEFF WILLIAMS HAS BEEN FLOATED AS A FRONT RUNNER. COOK WILL LIKELY STAY ON UNTIL AT LEAST 2025 WHEN HIS OPTIONS FULLY MATURE, PLUS HE’S ONLY 62, SO APPLE HAS SOME TIME.

LIKE WAYSTAR ROYCO, DISNEY HAS ITS HANDS IN A NUMBER OF BUSINESSES AND BOTCHED SUCCESSION PLANS. AFTER FEWER THAN 3 YEARS AT THE HELM, DISNEY CANNED BOB CHAPEK AND REINSTATED BOB IGER, WHO HAD HAND PICKED HIM TO TAKE OVER. THE COMPANY SAID CHAPEK HURT THE BRAND, BUT THERE WERE ALSO REPORTS THAT IGER WAS UNDERMINING HIM AT EVERY TURN. IGER SIGNED ON TO HELP THE HOUSE OF MOUSE FOR TWO MORE YEARS, AND A SHORT LIST OF POSSIBLE SUCCESSORS INCLUDES NBA COMMISSIONER ADAM SILVER?

FROM THE OUTSIDE IT’S NOT AS CUTTHROAT AS IT IS ON TV, BUT I BET BEHIND CLOSED DOORS IT CAN GET PRETTY RUTHLESS, ESPECIALLY WHEN THERE’S NOT A PLAN IN PLACE. THAT’S FIVE FOR FRIDAY. I’M SIMONE DEL ROSARIO. IT’S JUST BUSINESS.