Editor’s Letter: Edward Rogers is rewriting the rules of succession

There’s an old adage in the world of succession: the first generation builds the company, the second grows it, the third destroys it. Following the death of telecom giant Ted Rogers, whose dad had kick-started the family business, things were proceeding as expected. His eldest son, Edward, seemed shy, soft-spoken and lacking the charisma usually associated with the leaders of multibillion-dollar corporate juggernauts. If there were hopes for the heir apparent, they weren’t high.

Early bungling cemented the public image. When Edward sought to replace Paul Beeston with a new Blue Jays president, he rang up the head of the White Sox, who promptly tipped off his old pal Beeston. As an executive VP, Edward refused to consistently attend meetings under the new CEO. At company events, Edward made awkward, head-scratchy speeches.

Before he died, Ted named Edward chair of the Rogers Control Trust—which ensured the company would stay in the family—but not CEO, which read like a lukewarm endorsement of his son. Even worse, he surrounded Edward with siblings and lieutenants who had their own designs on the empire. As much as life can be challenging for a billionaire heir, Edward was in a bad spot—­underestimated, boxed in by doubters and yet expected to live up to a legend.

In the absence of a media presence—press conferences aren’t Edward’s thing—an eager press corps wrote his story for him. In MLSE meetings during the jubilant aftermath of the Raptors championship, Edward questioned the plan to reward Masai Ujiri with an unprecedented $15-­million salary. That was surely his right, and today, with the Raptors hopelessly lost in the wilderness for another season, maybe it wasn’t so nuts. Yet, in the media, Edward came across like a corporate buzzkill.

Most CEOs would hire an image consultant to spin the message. Instead, Edward put his head down and focused on the business. As veteran profile writer Trevor Cole reports in “Edward the Conqueror,” the man loves Microsoft Excel spreadsheets the way other guys love fantasy sports. He obsesses over them, is mesmerized by them, searches for the messages within them. In the boardroom, he chafes at PowerPoints larded with lush photography. All he wants is the data. Everything else is noise.

Given this disposition, when a Shakespearean drama erupted atop Rogers in 2021—his own sisters and mother engineered his ouster from the board—Edward was suited for battle. He lost a ton of weight from the stress, but without an ounce of melodrama, Edward did a very Edward thing: he assiduously followed the corporate articles and prevailed in court, as drily, dispassionately and decisively as possible.

He was too busy winning to get sidetracked anyway. He had just accomplished his dad’s goal of buying out Shaw, which expanded Rogers’s westward reach. He snapped up the TV properties of rival Corus. He nabbed BCE’s prized share of MLSE and then announced a 50,000-seat stadium at Downsview, which means Oasis this summer, yes, but could also lay the groundwork for an NFL bid.

It turns out that Edward is smart, ambitious and aggressive. He just doesn’t sound like it. Ted’s loud suits and extroverted personality were part of the Rogers brand. But Edward is transforming the brand to match his personality rather than the reverse. And with each victory, he’s rewriting the rules of succession.

Malcolm Johnston is the editor of Toronto Life. He can be reached via email at editor@torontolife.com.