Ted Turner, the billionaire founder of CNN and a pioneer of 24-hour television news, has died at the age of 87, the broadcaster said on Wednesday.
Turner launched Cable News Network in Atlanta, Georgia, in 1980 as the first channel to broadcast news around the clock, revolutionizing television journalism and reshaping how audiences consumed breaking news.
Current CNN chief executive and chairman Mark Thompson described Turner as "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."
Turner had disclosed in 2018 that he was suffering from dementia. At the time, the media mogul said he no longer followed the news, though he occasionally still watched CNN.
In a post on Truth Social, US President Donald Trump called Turner "one of the Greats of All Time," adding that Turner had been a "friend."
Trump also criticized CNN's evolution after its founder stepped back, saying the network had been "destroyed" and had become "woke," adding that new ownership could restore its credibility.
Turner himself largely withdrew from day-to-day operations in 2003.
CNN has been roiled by shifts in ownership over the past several years. In 2022, the network came under the control of Warner Bros Discovery. A proposed takeover of WBD by rival Paramount is currently pending regulatory approval.
Critics of Trump and media watchdogs have expressed concern that CNN could lose editorial independence under a Paramount ownership structure, backed by the family of tech billionaire Larry Ellison.
From billboard business to global media force
Born Robert Edward Turner III on November 19, 1938, in Ohio, Turner later moved with his family to Georgia. At the age of 24, he took over his father's near-bankrupt billboard advertising business and turned it around.
He founded CNN in 1980, saying before the first broadcast: "We can perhaps, hopefully, bring together in brotherhood, kindness, friendship and in peace, the people of this nation and the world."
While initially dismissed by some competitors as a niche project, CNN grew into a global media powerhouse. It was during the 1991 Gulf War, when the network’s non-stop reporting from Baghdad brought the conflict into living rooms in real time, that it became a household name.
Sailor, owner, philanthropist
Beyond broadcasting, Turner was active in professional wrestling and the film industry and for many years owned the Atlanta Braves.
An accomplished sailor, he won the America's Cup in 1977.
Turner was married three times, including from 1991 to 2001 to actress Jane Fonda, and had five children.
After stepping back from CNN, he became known for his philanthropy, earning international recognition as an environmentalist and major donor to the United Nations and global peace initiatives.
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres praised Turner as "a visionary whose conviction, generosity and audacious spirit left a lasting imprint on the United Nations and our world."
"I'm trying to set the all-time record for achievement by one person in one lifetime," Turner said in an interview in 1998. "And that puts you in pretty big company: Alexander the Great, Napoleon, Gandhi, Christ, Mohammed, Buddha, Washington, Roosevelt, Churchill."
