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Business & Economics Media & Communications Industries

Rogers v. Rogers

The Battle for Control of Canada's Telecom Empire

by (author) Alexandra Posadzki

Publisher
McClelland & Stewart
Initial publish date
Feb 2024
Category
Media & Communications Industries, Post-Confederation (1867-), Business
  • Hardback

    ISBN
    9780771003639
    Publish Date
    Feb 2024
    List Price
    $38.95

Classroom Resources

Where to buy it

Description

A riveting, deeply reported account that takes us inside the dramatic battle for control of Canada’s largest wireless carrier, and paints a broader picture 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.
Alexandra Posadzki’s ground-breaking coverage in the Globe and Mail exposed one of the most spectacular boardroom and family dramas in Canadian corporate history—one that has pitted the company’s extraordinarily powerful chairman and controlling shareholder, Edward Rogers, against not only his own management team but also the wishes of his mother and two of his sisters. Hanging in the balance is no less than the pending $20 billion acquisition of Shaw Communications, a historic deal that promises to transform Rogers into the truly national telecom empire that its late founder, Ted Rogers, always envisioned.

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.

About the author

Contributor Notes

ALEXANDRA POSADZKI is a business reporter with the Globe and Mail, Canada’s largest national newspaper. Her coverage of the country’s telecommunications industry, and in particular the conflict at Rogers Communications, won several Canada Best in Business Awards from the Society for Advancing Business Editing and Writing. She was featured in a 2022 Netflix documentary called Trust No One: The Hunt for the Crypto King for her contributions to the Globe’s industry-leading coverage of a massive cryptocurrency Ponzi scheme. She lives in Toronto and is a graduate of Toronto Metropolitan University’s Master of Journalism program.

Editorial Reviews

INSTANT NATIONAL BESTSELLER · A Globe and Mail Best Book of the Year • One of Indigo's Top Ten Non-Fiction Books of 2024 and Top 100 Books of 2024 • A Spotify Best Business Book of 2024
“Posadzki has written an incisive and compelling melodrama—and an industry primer that ought to be read by anyone who wonders just how Canada’s telecommunications industry works—or doesn’t—and how Canadian public policy and federalism conditions it. From the scourge of dual class shares to regulatory review to board struggles to how physical networks work and beyond, the book moves seamlessly between technical, business, legal and interpersonal details while remaining interesting, informative and accessible. That’s an achievement. . . . [Rogers v. Rogers] will remain a must-read.”
Globe and Mail

Rogers v. Rogers takes you deep inside a Shakespearean saga of unfettered ambition, family rivalry, and boardroom betrayals—a well-reported book that will terrify shareholders and directors.”
—Jacquie McNish, co-author of Losing the Signal: The Spectacular Rise and Fall of BlackBerry
Rogers v. Rogers is a fascinating deep dive into one of Canada’s most influential business families, describing in vivid detail the power struggle that tore it apart. From an infamous ‘butt dial’ to biting social media outbursts, Posadzki’s energetic reporting takes you into the boardrooms, courtrooms and living rooms where family members and their courtiers engaged in high-stakes combat.”
—Gordon Pitts, author of the National Business Book Award winner, Stampede! The Rise of the West and Canada’s New Power Elite
“[Alexandra] Posadzki gives readers a tantalizingly detailed glimpse into how power works in corporate Canada, with ordinary people caught in a web of egos and grievances. You’ll never want to pay your cellphone bill again.”
—Josh O’Kane, bestselling author of Sideways: The City Google Couldn’t Buy