Ted Turner, the media entrepreneur who launched CNN and transformed cable news, has died at 87.
Mark Thompson, CEO of CNN Worldwide, called Turner “an intensely involved and committed leader, intrepid, fearless and always willing to back a hunch and trust his own judgment. He was and always will be the presiding spirit of CNN. Ted is the giant on whose shoulders we stand.”
At his death, Turner’s net worth was estimated at about $2.2 billion, according to Celebrity Net Worth. Over a long and varied life he owned professional sports teams, competed as a yachtsman — including defending the America’s Cup in 1977 — and gave generously to charity, most notably donating $1 billion to United Nations causes.
Turner was married three times, most famously to actress Jane Fonda. He is survived by five children, 14 grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.
His career in media began at 24, after taking over Turner Outdoor Advertising following his father’s suicide. He expanded into radio and television, buying a struggling Atlanta station, Channel 17, in 1970. That station became the cornerstone of Turner Broadcasting System, whose revenues helped him launch CNN in 1980 as the first 24-hour, all-news cable channel in the United States.
CNN’s defining moment came during the 1991 Gulf War, when the network continued live coverage from Baghdad as other outlets pulled back. Turner later said, “I was going to have to hit hard and move incredibly fast and that’s what we did — move so fast that the [broadcast] networks wouldn’t have the time to respond.” Time named him its 1991 Man of the Year for making viewers in 150 countries “instant witnesses of history.”
In 1996 Turner sold Turner Broadcasting, including CNN, to Time Warner for $7.3 billion, later reflecting that selling and losing control was a mistake. He remained active in philanthropy, founding the United Nations Foundation in 1998 and donating $1 billion to promote global cooperation and U.S. leadership. In September 2018 he revealed he was living with Lewy body dementia.
Turner leaves a complex legacy as a pioneering broadcaster, bold businessman and major philanthropist who reshaped how the world watches news.