As Rupert Murdoch retires, a look into succession drama that roiled his family and inspired HBO hit

Spoiler alert: The withering patriarch of Succession, Logan Roy, never stepped down as CEO of a media conglomerate before passing away, nor did he nail down a succession plan. But the real-life Logan Roy just did. Business magnate and media mogul Rupert Murdoch, 92, announced on Thursday that he’s retiring as chairman at Fox Corporation and News Corp. in mid-November after a seven-decade career. Despite the HBO drama creator Jesse Armstrong’s reminders that the characters are fictional and “no one family unlocks” them, the Roys have an uncanny resemblance to...