The saga involving Scholastic CEO M. Richard Robinson Jr. and his family could be a storyline straight out of HBO’s “Succession.”
The late owner of Scholastic Corp., which published several iconic children’s books including “Harry Potter” and “Magic Schoolbus,” reportedly cut his immediate family out of his will and left the $1.2 billion publishing empire to his longtime side chick, Iole Lucchese, an employee at Scholastic.
Scholastic published popular book series including the “Magic Schoolbus” and “Clifford the Big Red Dog.” But Robinson’s decision to give control of the company to Lucchese came as quite a shock to people in the industry – as well as his family – because he chose to hand over control to his former romantic partner, who still works for the book publisher.
In his 2018 will, Robinson described Lucchese as “my partner and closest friend.”
Lucchese, a 30-year-veteran of Scholastic, spent her entire career with the company, according to her Scholastic bio. She started out with the Scholastic Canada Book Clubs and rose through the ranks. She was named Chief Strategy Officer in 2014, Executive Vice President of Scholastic Corporation in 2016, and Chair of the Board of Directors in 2021, the bio said.
Robinson’s succession plan left some family members reeling: John Benham Robinson, the publishing mogul’s older son, told The Journal that his father’s will had “served as salt in an open wound.” John, 34, said he spoke to Lucchese for the first time in late July about his father’s estate, The Journal reported.
Some of Robinson’s family members are considering legal action, unnamed sources close to the matter told The Journal.
Maurice Robinson, the younger son, told The Journal: “You might think from the will that he didn’t see his sons. That’s not true. For the last two years I saw him multiple times a week.”
Robinson’s ex-wife, Helen Benham, also told The Journal that he’d grown closer to his family during the pandemic, spending “all of his time” away from work with her and their children.
Robinson’s family wrote in his obituary that he’d “expressed a strong desire to work less and spend more time with his family on the Vineyard.”
Source: AWM