Expand your mind and build your reading list with the Books newsletter. Sign up today.
What has been compared to a real-life version of HBO’s Succession, the battle for control of Canada’s largest wireless carrier, has been playing out for months. Soon after Rogers Communications Inc. chief financial officer Anthony Staffieri’s departure was announced in September, The Globe and Mail reported that it was connected to an attempt he made to oust CEO Joe Natale with the backing of chairman Edward Rogers.
As the rift in the company – and within the Rogers family itself – deepened, The Globe’s telecoms reporter, Alexandra Posadzki, has been breaking news on the twists and turns of the fallout, from the infamous “pocket dial” that exposed a back-room plan to unseat the CEO to this week’s outing of Mr. Natale. Rogers vs. Rogers, Posadzki’s forthcoming book on this saga, is set to be published by McClelland & Stewart in the fall of 2023.
Rogers removes CEO Joe Natale after boardroom power struggle for control of telecom giant
Rogers CEO Joe Natale learned of Edward Rogers’s plan to oust him through butt-dial from CFO
Although this high-stakes boardroom drama has gripped the country, McClelland & Stewart publisher Jared Bland says the real reason it has been riveting is Posadzki’s reporting.
“Her tenacity, rigour and incredibly deep sourcing has brought this story to life for readers across Canada,” Mr. Bland said in a news release. “All of us at McClelland & Stewart are thrilled to see this work continue in what we know will be a blockbuster account of one of the most memorable stories of this era.”
How will Ms. Posadzki’s book end? That’s still hanging in the balance, as the focus turns to Rogers’s pending acquisition of Shaw Communications Inc. for $26-billion, the biggest deal in their history, which requires approval from three federal agencies.
Ms. Posadzki joined The Globe’s Report on Business in 2017 and previously covered banking and real estate at The Canadian Press. She is also a member of the committee that oversees the Canadian chapter of the Society for Advancing Business Editing and Writing (SABEW).
Sign up for The Globe’s arts and lifestyle newsletters for more news, columns and advice in your inbox.