Ted Turner, founder of CNN, dead at 87
Famed TV producer founded the 24-hour network that revolutionized broadcast news
Ted Turner, the brash sportsman and entrepreneur whose ambition and instincts led to a media empire that included groundbreaking news network CNN, has died, CNN reported on Wednesday citing a press release from Turner Enterprises. He was 87.
No cause of death was given.
In September 2018 Turner revealed that he had Lewy body dementia, a degenerative nerve disease.
Born Robert Edward Turner III in Cincinnati on Nov. 19, 1938, he moved to the South with his family when he was nine. He was sent to military schools where he became a champion debater and yachtsman.
He became a billionaire by taking over his father's billboard business, buying a television station in 1970 and parlaying that into what would become a vast ground-breaking television group.
Turner became one of the most powerful figures in U.S. media and entertainment, his networks specializing in news, sports, re-runs and old movies.
Turner was married and divorced three times and had five children. His third marriage, to Jane Fonda, which lasted 10 years, ended in 2001.
Turner set bar for 24-hour news
In 1980, he started CNN in Atlanta, which he said would counter "sleazy" coverage by the major networks CBS, NBC and ABC.
Offering low pay but the lure of adventure, Turner signed up journalists and technical crew who endured ridicule that the "Chicken Noodle Network" would fail.
Instead, as the first 24-hour news outlet, it set a template for worldwide news coverage of wars, trials, revolutions and both manmade and natural disasters.
Turner was also a major philanthropist. In 1997 he made philanthropic history by announcing that he was donating $1 billion US to fund United Nations operations. In 2017, after the last installment of the donation, Turner called it "the best investment I've ever made."
His Turner Foundation also gave millions to environmental groups, while he promoted and invested in clean energy.