Another of Fanning's sons, Evan also writes for the newspaper while his nephew, Brendan Fanning is rugby correspondent. Sarah Caden and Brendan O'Connor, a married couple, are both columnists; however, they met while both were working for the Sunday Independent. Shane Ross is a former Business Editor of the Sunday Independent, he was succeeded by his son-in-law Nick Webb. Ironically, Ross was a frequent critic of nepotism, cronyism and under-performance in Irish companies, particularly the Smurfit family's influence within the Smurfit Group despite the family status as minority shareholders. Despite being a publicly listed company, the parent company Independent News and Media employed as its CEO Gavin O'Reilly whose father was the largest shareholder and Chairman Tony O'Reilly. Gavin O'Reilly was ousted as CEO after INM's share price collapsed and Denis O'Brien became the largest shareholder. INM plc support and Denis O'Brien The Independent group has often been accused of supporting the business interests of the O'Reilly family and in particular the parent group INM plc. Shane Ross, business editor and columnist, in particular has repeatedly praised the performance of Independent News and Media and its largest shareholder Tony O'Reilly and refrained from commenting on the subsequent collapse in the INM share-price and debt restructuring. Denis O'Brien in contrast has been the frequent subject of critical comment, in particular when his business activities conflicted with the O'Reilly family. In the 2001 battle for control of Eircom with then-largest shareholder Tony O'Reilly, the Sunday Independent wrote of the inevitability of the sale to O'Brien, writing "The Employee Share Option Trust (ESOT) has made its position clear: better dead than Denis. If they stick to this line it will be almost impossible for him to secure the votes needed to capture Eircom. Deadlock looms. And what happens if Valentia then walks away, leaving Denis as the highest bidder? Not yet likely, but possible. Sir Anthony is not going to pay a silly price for Eircom." In a 2002 article headlined as "tough questions for the INM board", Tony O'Reilly was referred to as the "noble Knight" by Shane Ross, who reminded shareholders of historic share-price performance and "good dividend" while referring to the "well-publicised woes of the Irish Times" and refraining from comment on the €400 million spent on The Belfast Telegraph. In 2006 he wrote glowingly of "success fuelled by global strategy" and referred reverentially to O'Reilly "global nature of INM's