Edward Rogers claims he had family's backing to oust CEO — but mother and sister say no

Edward Rogers says his bid to oust the CEO of the telecom conglomerate his father founded had the support of other members of his family, before they changed their mind.

In documents filed with a B.C. court on Tuesday evening, the former — and depending on who you ask, current — chair of Rogers Communications Inc. claims the company's board backed a plan that would have seen CEO Joe Natale step down and be replaced by CFO Anthony Staffieri.

The Rogers family controls the $28 billion telecom giant through a trust that holds 97 per cent of the voting shares in the TSX-listed company. Numerous members of the Rogers family including Edward, his sisters Martha and Melinda, and mother Loretta have sat on the company's board since patriarch Ted died in 2008.

Earlier this month, it emerged that Edward was the architect of a plot to oust Natale from the top job at the company, because he felt the company wasn't performing financially as well as it could. Rogers shares have lagged those of rivals Bell and Telus since Ted died, and the gap has widened during the pandemic.

In the affidavit filed with the B.C. Supreme Court, Edward says he proposed a plan to replace Natale with Staffieri to the board, and got the backing of 10 of the 11 board members in September. Natale himself signed off on the plan, Edward says. In the days that followed that vote, while the details were being ironed out, he says Natale aggressively lobbied to have Staffieri fired and the plan ripped up.

Days later, Edward says members of the board reneged on that plan. Instead, they fired Staffieri and at a subsequent meeting stripped Edward himself of his chairmanship.

But Edward claims the plan had the support of his sister and mother. "My mother Loretta and sister Martha in particular expressed the firm view that Mr. Natale had had more than four years to prove himself and that it was time for a change," Edward says in the court document.

After he was ousted as chair, Edward used his control of the family trust to name five new directors to the company, who he says promptly reinstated him. "The situation had become untenable," Edward says.

Rogers Communications Inc. says Edward is not in fact the chair and his board is invalid.

Edward is petitioning the court to recognize his new board as being in rightful control of the company because the turmoil is bad for business. Rogers shares have lost about seven per cent of their value in the past week as the messy fight has gone public.

The power play comes as the company is in the midst of trying to acquire Shaw Communications for $26 billion including debt. If the deal goes through, it will be the largest successful telecom takeover in Canadian history. The importance of that deal was a major impetus for his push for new leadership, Edward says.

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"After careful consideration over this past summer, I had formed the view by September that Mr. Natale's performance was not going to improve and I had serious concerns about his ability to lead [Rogers] following the company's integration of Shaw," Edward says in the court filing.

Natale has made very few public comments since the story broke, and Staffieri none, since leaving the company abruptly at the end of September.