Ted Turner, the brash sportsman and entrepreneur whose ambition and instincts led to a media empire that included the groundbreaking news network CNN, has died, CNN reports, citing a press release from Turner Enterprises. He was 87.
No cause of his death on Wednesday was given.
In September 2018, Turner revealed that he had Lewy body dementia, a degenerative nerve disease.
He became a billionaire by taking over his father’s billboard business, buying a television station in the 1970s and parlaying that into what would become a vast, groundbreaking television group.
“Ted was an intensely involved and committed leader, intrepid and fearless and always willing to back a hunch and trust his own judgement. He was and always will be the presiding spirit of CNN,” CNN Worldwide CEO Mark Thompson said in a statement. “Ted is the giant on whose shoulders we stand, and we will all take a moment today to recognise him and his impact on our lives and the world.”
Turner became one of the most powerful figures in US media and entertainment, his networks specialising in news, sports, reruns and old movies. But he did not stop there. He added the MGM/UA movie studio to his portfolio before making an even bigger move – merging his Turner Broadcasting System with Time Warner in 1996.
Turner headed the new company’s cable networks division and was its leading shareholder, but he struggled to fit into a corporate system after decades of running his own show. He eventually lost control of his networks.
He made a name for himself with spectacular business deals, his ownership of professional sports clubs, his marriage to actor Jane Fonda, his leadership of a competitive yachting team, and his devotion to charitable and environmental causes.
“Ted Turner was a bold man, entrepreneur, and philanthropist, and even those who at times strongly disagreed with him respected him,” Brian Kemp, governor of the state of Georgia, where CNN’s main studio is located, said in a social media post.
Born in Cincinnati, Ohio, in November 1938, Robert Edward “Ted” Turner III went to a military boarding school in Tennessee and then attended Brown University, but was expelled before graduating.
Turner took over a faltering family advertising business after his father, despondent over financial problems, committed suicide.
First 24-hour cable news network
After he bought a number of radio stations, Turner’s purchase of a struggling Atlanta station in 1970 was his first move into television.
Ten years later, that became the flagship of his nationwide Turner Broadcasting System, the profits from which he used to launch CNN.
CNN went on the air in 1980 as the first 24-hour cable news network, gaining traction in the United States and later internationally.
The launch came as viewers were shifting from broadcast TV to cable, and CNN became a key news source during the 1990-1991 Gulf War, delivering extensive live coverage via satellite.
“Ted Turner created an unstoppable media revolution for the BENEFIT of all humankind,” CNN International Anchor Christiane Amanpour said in a social media post. “Throughout nearly 43 years at CNN, working for Ted and his vision has been the proudest achievement of my lifetime.”
CNN’s success inspired the creation of other 24-hour news channels, including Fox News, launched by longtime Turner rival Rupert Murdoch, MSNBC, and many more worldwide.
Turner’s television empire expanded beyond CNN to include TBS and TNT for sports and entertainment, Turner Classic Movies, and the Cartoon Network, among others.
Turner sold back the Hollywood group MGM/UA five months after buying it, while retaining rights to large portions of its catalogue, including MGM films.