- Ted Turner, CNN founder and media pioneer, died at 87 on Wednesday.
- Turner revolutionized TV news with CNN, launched in 1980, and expanded globally.
- He was a philanthropist, conservationist and major landowner, leaving a lasting legacy.
ATLANTA — Ted Turner, the media maverick and philanthropist who founded CNN, a pioneering 24-hour network that revolutionized television news, died peacefully Wednesday, surrounded by his family, according to a news release from Turner Enterprises. He was 87.
The Ohio-born Atlanta businessman, nicknamed "The Mouth of the South" for his outspoken nature, built a media empire that encompassed cable's first superstation and popular channels for movies and cartoons, plus professional sports teams like the Atlanta Braves.
Turner was also an internationally known yachtsman; a philanthropist who founded the United Nations Foundation; an activist who sought the worldwide elimination of nuclear weapons; and a conservationist who became one of the foremost landowners in the United States. He played a crucial role in reintroducing bison to the American west. He even created the Captain Planet cartoon to educate kids about the environment.
But it was his audacious vision to deliver news from around the world in real time, at all hours, that really made him famous – once his idea finally took off.
"Ted was an intensely involved and committed leader, intrepid, fearless and always willing to back a hunch and trust his own judgement," Mark Thompson, chairman and CEO of CNN Worldwide, said in a statement. "He was and always will be the presiding spirit of CNN. Ted is the giant on whose shoulders we stand, and we will all take a moment today to recognize him and his impact on our lives and the world."
Just over a month before his 80th birthday in 2018, Turner revealed that he had Lewy body dementia, a progressive brain disorder. In early 2025, Turner was hospitalized with a mild case of pneumonia before recovering at a rehabilitation facility.
Turner is survived by his five children, 14 grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren.
Launching a TV news revolution
Turner began his media career at the age of 24 when he took over his father's billboard company, Turner Outdoor Advertising, in the wake of the elder Turner's suicide. He buried his shock and grief in work – but Turner wasn't content to push other people's products forever.
He bought up radio stations, then branched into television in 1970 by acquiring a struggling station in Atlanta known as Channel 17. He tried to boost the ratings by airing old sitcoms and classic films, at one point even hosting "Academy Award Theatre" himself.
Turner wasn't interested in news yet. He decided to invest in sports instead, acquiring the rights to Atlanta Braves baseball games. Viewers and advertisers flocked to the channel, and as Turner turned a profit, he started to think bigger about TV.
In 1976 he beamed Channel 17's signal up to a satellite and it became cable TV's first superstation, reaching cable subscribers across the country.
He was and always will be the presiding spirit of CNN. Ted is the giant on whose shoulders we stand, and we will all take a moment today to recognize him and his impact on our lives and the world.
–Mark Thompson, chairman and CEO of CNN Worldwide
Turner bought the Braves, and then the Atlanta Hawks basketball team, partly to keep the long-term rights to the TV programming, and partly because it was just plain fun.
As he built the Superstation WTBS, he set his sights even higher – a 24-hour news channel.
Turner was harshly critical of broadcast TV and establishment news judgments. "Part of the reason America had so many problems, he believed, was because his fellow Americans were so ill-informed," former CNN journalist Lisa Napoli wrote in "Up All Night," a book about the creation of CNN. Turner recognized "there was no better place to promote a variety of opinions than on almighty television. With a news channel, he could quite possibly help save the world."
A lot of people thought Turner's idea was crazy. But he saw a huge opening in the marketplace.
On June 1, 1980, CNN – the first 24-hour news channel – went live and has been on the air ever since.
Turner quickly expanded, adding a second 24-hour news network CNN2 (later renamed Headline News, then HLN) in 1982 and CNN International, which broadcast around the world, in 1985. He later added non-news cable channels, including Turner Network Television (TNT), Turner Classic Movies (TCM) and the Cartoon Network
Turner and his deputies knew they were creating something revolutionary.
When the Persian Gulf War broke out in 1990, the importance of a 24-hour news channel became clear. It was the first time a war was broadcast live – and it was only on CNN.
"What Ted made happen was just as important as the internet revolution," said former Turner Broadcasting CEO Terry McGuirk.
Turner was hailed as a visionary and earned TIME Magazine's "Man of the Year" in 1991.
In 1996, Turner sold his networks to Time Warner for nearly $7.5 billion. He stayed on as a vice-chairman of Time Warner, heading up the company's cable TV networks.
A media mogul turned philanthropist
Turner always had a philanthropic streak, but it began to move to the forefront in 1997, the year after he sold Turner Broadcasting to Time Warner. That's when he pledged $1 billion to the United Nations. Making good on that pledge took a while longer than he had anticipated – he made his final payment to the UN in 2015 – thanks to the beating his fortune took after the 2001 merger with AOL.
When it was over, he was still a billionaire, but just barely.
Turner didn't do anything in a small way, including reinventing himself. He was the second-biggest landowner in North America, with 2 million acres spread over 28 properties, including 19 ranches in Nebraska, Colorado, Kansas, Montana, New Mexico and South Dakota, as well as in Argentina. The first of his Ted's Montana Grill restaurants opened in 2002, and now there are more than 40 in 16 states. He managed to bring bison back from the brink of extinction; he had the world's largest private bison herd, with approximately 51,000 head.
His five children – Rhett Turner, Laura Turner Seydel, Jennie Turner Garlington, Teddy Turner and Beau Turner – serve on the board of the Turner Foundation. His other foundations include his United Nations Foundation, Nuclear Threat Initiative, Captain Planet Foundation and the Turner Endangered Species Fund.
Yet no matter how successful he became, Turner was often still trying to prove himself.
Contributing: Elise Zeiger, Kimberly Arp Babbit and Dan Q. Tham
