EDWARD THE CONQUEROR

HE WAS DISMISSED AS A MEDDLING NEPO BABYUNTIL HE MUSCLED OUT HIS SIBLINGS, ACQUIRED HIS COMPETITORS, CORNERED THE TELECOM MARKET AND BECAME THE DOMINANT FORCE IN CANADIAN SPORTS

- TREVOR COLE

WHEN EDWARD ROGERS puts his foot down, he does it softly, with a certain reluctance. But I forced the issue.

"I don't want to be rude," he said, quietly.

I'd asked the executive chair of Rogers Communications Inc. about the recent financial settlement with two of his sisters, Melinda and Martha. It had come in the wake of an ugly 2021 boardroom drama that pitted the sisters against their brother over control of the company founded by their famous father, Ted Rogers, and left Edward alone on top. Signed in January of 2024, the settlement essentially swept most of the remaining shards from that messy affair into the bin. But the terms were mysterious. Could Edward provide any details?

"No," he began. "Only in so much that, um, it got to a place where I think everyone was happy. And I do believe everyone did want to put Rogers, our company, first, and make sure that any of the drama and the publicity was gone."

Did the settlement end Melinda and Martha's partial ownership of Rogers? "No," said Edward.

"This is the last thing I'll say: no, they're still owners of the company. They're still siblings." This was hardly satisfying. There was so much more to know. Hearing the finality in Edward's voice but hoping for some tiny revelation, I kept it simple. "What was the settlement about?"

And that was too much. Edward, who does not have an expressive face, almost winced. "Can I-" he started, clearly uncomfortable. Then he shifted and did something he often seems loath to do, perhaps because doing it inevitably generates a lot of unwanted attention: he asserted himself. "I don't want to be rude," he said. "I think I'll leave it there." And so things proceeded in a way that is becoming familiar to those who have observed the recent rise of Edward Rogers III. They proceeded on his terms.