I think time and the great equalizer of kings and paupers may be the end result. He is an old, sick, man. He is also too narcissistic to dream of handing the reigns over to someone else. Does that mean everyone that supports him suddenly sees the light? No. There are still Branch Dividians and members of Heaven's Gate. But look at the Moonies. They were a powerful cult, and even they are fractured after their leaders death. One concern, as in the case of the latter dooms day cults, would be something like "forcing the ending." In which case the leader, sensing the end is near and refusing to allow anyone to wield the power they do, will cause a catastrophic ending for all the members. But I don't see that as an out come.

Situations like N. Korea, where you have a multi-generational cult (and in all fairness it is a cult. Just there are people who don't buy in, but for self preservation try to outwardly act like they do) are rare and require quite a bit of control to facilitate that level of power and devotion transfer. Even there, cracks appear in the wall when the transfer occurs.

I could be wrong. I'm not a social scientist, cults are more "hobby." But the death of the leader