Ted Turner, the visionary founder of CNN, has passed away at the age of 87. The renowned media mogul died on Wednesday, as reported by the very network he created. Turner, who was a father of four, was also known for his marriage to actress Jane Fonda from 1991 to 2001. Affectionately dubbed the ‘Mouth of the South’ due to his candid nature, Turner established a vast media empire that encompassed numerous cable and satellite sports channels. For many years, he was also the owner of the Atlanta Braves. In 1980, he launched CNN, the pioneering 24-hour cable news channel, which earned him the title of Time’s ‘Man of the Year’ in 1991 for its groundbreaking live news coverage.
Mark Thompson, CEO of CNN Worldwide, paid tribute to Turner in a heartfelt statement. Although the exact cause of death was not disclosed, it is known that Turner had been battling Lewy body dementia. Thompson expressed, “He was and always will be the guiding spirit of CNN. Ted is the giant on whose shoulders we stand, and today we pause to honor his influence on our lives and the world.” Thompson also praised Turner, the founder of TNT, as a “dedicated and fearless leader, always ready to follow his instincts and trust his judgment.”
Turner officially stepped down from the Turner Broadcasting System, which includes CNN, in 2006. Born in Cincinnati, Ohio, in November 1938, Turner took control of a struggling family billboard business following his father’s tragic death. He then ventured into television by acquiring several radio stations and a faltering Atlanta TV station in 1970. Within a decade, Turner revitalized the channel and used its success to launch CNN, which rapidly became a significant news source in the U.S. and globally. The channel’s rise coincided with the shift from broadcast to cable, and CNN gained prominence, especially during its coverage of the Persian Gulf War in the early 1990s.
The channel’s success inspired the creation of several other 24-hour news channels since, including Fox News. Turner’s television empire extended beyond CNN, however, with TBS and TNT, Turner Classic Movies and Cartoon Network among his other creations. Turner also attempted to acquire CBS in the 80s but failed. He also owned Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) for a time, before selling off the studio for a fraction of what he paid while keeping the rights to large portions of its catalog. The shrewd business move helped launch both TNT and Turner Classic Movies, while also allowing Turner to curate content for a then-growing TBS. Films like Gone with the Wind and The Wizard of Oz filled out time slots, as did syndicated programs like the Andy Griffith Show.
The deals continued – and grew in scope – in the 1990s, when Turner Broadcasting merged with Time Warner in 1996, making Turner vice chairman of a newly formed entertainment powerhouse. In 2001, Time Warner merged with America Online in a $165 billion deal that was then by far the biggest merger in corporate history. The merger, however, failed within a decade, largely due to the fall of AOL, which used an inflated share price for the deal during the height of its success. Turner, the biggest shareholder, lost billions. Then in his mid-60s, Turner lost roughly $8 billion, he admitted at the time. His net worth, as of Wednesday, was estimated to be roughly $2.8 billion, according to Forbes. The advertising business he inherited from his father was worth about $1 million.
