Money Talks: Succession Asia
Money Talks from The Economist
The Economist
4.4 • 1.2K Ratings
🗓️ 13 April 2023
⏱️ 37 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Fans of the popular television show “Succession” have been gripped by the family battle to take control of the fictional patriarch Logan Roy’s sprawling media empire. But across Asia family businesses are worried about their own, very real, succession battles as a new generation of plutocrats look to take over from their fathers.
On this week’s podcast, hosts Mike Bird, Alice Fulwood and Tom Lee-Devlin delve into the challenges facing some of Asia’s wealthiest families. Author, Joe Studwell, talks about some of the characters worrying about their legacy and Kevin Au from the Chinese University of Hong Kong explains how succession challenges can be overcome.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Deciding who's going to lead the family company is serious business. |
| 0:06.7 | If the US TV hits succession is anything to go by. |
| 0:11.2 | The wildly popular series follows the aging media tycoon Logan Roy and his three children |
| 0:17.6 | who are all vying for control of his sprawling multi-billion dollar business empire. |
| 0:24.0 | Why does everyone ask come unfill? |
| 0:26.8 | The problem for Logan is that none of his kids really seem to have the right qualifications, |
| 0:32.3 | experience or aptitude to replace him. |
| 0:35.3 | I love you, but you are not serious people. |
| 0:41.5 | Growing up in the company's orbit has given them a sense of entitlement that doesn't quite |
| 0:45.8 | match their capabilities. |
| 0:47.3 | We're going to cut out, bind our backs. |
| 0:49.8 | But there's a shape for things for us. |
| 0:53.1 | Perhaps what Logan Roy needs is something the script writers have chosen not to give |
| 0:57.5 | him, grown up grandchildren. |
| 1:01.5 | In Asia, a process of real world succession is underway. |
| 1:06.4 | Power is passing from the often elderly pioneers of 20th century business empires and their |
| 1:12.2 | children down to the third generation. |
| 1:16.1 | They are worldly, educated abroad and have established careers outside of the family firm. |
| 1:23.0 | On television, the politics, drama and emotion of family business succession has audiences |
| 1:28.4 | gripped. |
| 1:29.9 | But can the next generation of Asian plutocrats take the reins from their aging patriarchs |
| 1:35.0 | without quite so much drama? |
... |
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