The battle for control of Canada’s largest wireless carrier, revealing  a broader drama of the cutthroat telecom industry, the labyrinth of regulatory and political systems that govern it, and the high stakes corporate games played by the Canadian establishment. In the annals of boardroom drama, the video message clip that emerged in early 2022 was a quiet a show stopper. “Edward. This is from Suzanne”, growled the actor Brain Cox famous for playing the media magnate Logon Roy in the hit television series Succession at Rogers Communication. And also have Joe Natale fuck the fuck off.” The Canadian business community witnessed the reference to a vicious family fight for the country’s biggest wireless carrier that has shocked and enthralled the country. It is a story that has seen siblings go into battle against each other, as well as more humdrum perceived instances of greed, debauchery, betrayals and personal vengeance and courtroom dramas initially brought to light by a highly publicised pocketdial, even threatening to bring down the entire Rogers Telecoms empire. Rogers Communications founded in Toronto in 1960, by Ted Rogers, the company’s second generation leader and risk-taker who invested early in cable television and cellular networks, transforming the group into a giant with interest from television distribution to sports franchises. After Ted’s death in 2008, his children- Edward and his sisters Lisa, Melinda and Martha – struggled to take control of the family empire cycling through CEO’s and nearly botching a planned takeover of rival Shaw Communications. Edward’s ploy to usurp Joe Natale, a telecoms industry veteran  who his mother and sisters wanted for CEO.  This comes undone after that pocket dial , Natale overhears a private telephone conversation between Edward and the Roger’s executive he plans to have installed as CEO instead. Natale and Rogers sisters try to stop Edward, but he persists in ousting Natale. When the firing arrives before Canada’s supreme court, the judge discards pages of evidence that pertain to “family squabbles” which she derides a irrelevant. The siblings fight over Twitter Now X, Martha can’t keep herself from speculating about her brother’s Trump affiliations or his relationship with his father.
Based on deeply sourced, investigative reporting of the iconic $30 billion publicly traded telecom and media giant, Posadzki takes us inside a company that touches the lives of millions of Canadians, challenging what we thought we knew about corporate governance and who really holds the power. Rogers v. Rogers is also a story of family legacy and succession, of an old guard pushing back at the new guard, and of a company struggling to find its footing in the wake of its legendary founder’s death. At the heart of it all is a dispute between warring factions of the family over how they each interpret the desires of the late patriarch and the very identity of the company that bears their name.

Rogers v Rogers: The Battle For Control of Canada’s Telecom Empire by Alexandra Posadzki, McClelland & Stewart £22.98/$29.22, 416 pages.