Succession finale: You can place a bet on the future of WaystarRoyco

Spoilers follow for Succession. If you haven’t watched every episode barring the finale, please do so before reading further.

HBO’s family corporate drama (inspired by the business and family drama surrounding Rupert Murdoch)Succession is coming to its highly anticipated conclusion. 38 episodes of the hit HBO seriesSuccession have gone by in a flash.It seemed like it was only yesterday that Logan Roy was throwing F-bombs at his children, or when the siblings were in solidarity at the wedding of their mother, Caroline Collingwood.

The future of their company WaystarRoyco is just as uncertain as it was when Kendall (the presumed heir to the throne for much of the show) did the bonkers “L to the OG,” rap at an event to commemorate 50 years of Logan running WaystarRoyco.

With every character vying for the largest piece of the Waystar pie, there is one major question to be answered in the series finale, a 90-minute epic titled,With Open Eyes.“Who becomes CEO?” Or, as a popular parody song put it, "Who will get a kiss from daddy?" Some of the other questions include:

- Will Tom and Shiv get back together?

- Does Connor get an international appointment?

- If Kendall is CEO, do Colin and Hugo join him, or do they reveal his secrets?

- Will Kendall’s past come back and haunt him?

- What’s going to happen with Ebba and Matsson?

- Does Greg The Egg supersede Tom in rank and power?

- Does Gerri Kellman (general counsel and once interim CEO of Waystar Royco) get a piece of the pie?

- What is Marcia Roy’s (Logan Roy’s fierce third wife) play?

Questions aside, people have been cooking up theory after theory, on several Telegram groups that I’m part of and placing bets on the outcome – in the real world, using real money.

Yes, you can actually place a bet on the series finale of Succession

DraftKings, a popular betting site in the USA has drawn up hypothetical odds for the likeliest of outcomes come Sunday night. The predictions, compiled by director of race and sportsbook operations Johnny Avello, has Waystar Royco being sold to GoJo as the most likely scenario.

Here’s the full list of hypothetical odds from DraftKings:

1. Waystar Royco sold at 2-1

2. Shiv named CEO at 5-2

3. Kendall named CEO at 3-1

4. Roman named CEO at 8-1

5. Connor named CEO at 14-1

6. Tom Wambsgans named CEO at 20-1

7. Marcia (Logan’s third wife) named CEO at 30-1

8. Greg Hirsch named CEO at 50-1

9. Logan’s first wife named CEO at 100-1

While DraftKings may have drawn up hypothetical odds, there is actually one place where you can bet. Polymarket, an information markets platform that lets you trade on the world's most highly-debated topics, allows you to bet on “Who will be CEO at the end of Succession's S4 Finale?” using crypto.

As of a couple of days ago, Kendall Roy was the odds on favourite to takeover the throne vacated by the death of Logan Roy. Roman Roy was next up followed by Shiv Roy.

Odds in favour (Draftkings)

As of today, there’s a new favourite in town, thanks to a very popular TikTok video. Yes, TikTok can influence anything and everything in this world.

The tweet talks about how the names on Succession (and alludes to other shows) can possibly reveal the shows ending. In the case of Succession, we have the most left-field name: Tom Wambsgans. In the TikTok, Sophie from Nameberry talks about how Tom Wambsgans shares a name with Bill Wambsganss, an MLB player during the early 20th century. Bill Wambsganss is remembered for being the only player that completed an unassited triple - taking out three players at once - play in World Series (basically the finale of the baseball season) history! As Sophie wonders, will Tom complete an unassisted triple play and take out all three of the Roy siblings and become the leader of WaystarRoyco?

Since the video went viral, Tom Wambsgans price on the Polymarket shot up from 15¢ to 30¢ and, as of 3:15 PM on Saturday, 27th May, his price is at a whopping 49¢, far ahead of Kendall Roy at 39¢!

All bets off

In a The New York Times article, Wilson Wong talks about how many groups of people have their own informal betting pools and that some can even have a buy-in as much as $200 (approximately ₹16,500). 

It’s going to be an early Monday morning for all of us here in India and a long night ahead of discussing, and then interpreting, and then arguing over the series finale. It’s going to be even more tense for you if you’re part of a group that is betting on the next CEO of Waystar Royco!