In September 2018, Turner revealed he was diagnosed with Lewy body dementia in an interview with "CBS Sunday Morning."
Key Points
- Ted Turner, the business magnate who founded CNN and Turner Broadcasting System, died Wednesday at 87.
- "He was and always will be the presiding spirit of CNN," network CEO Mark Thompson said in a statement.
- In addition to his business venture successes, Turner was also a recognized philanthropist and the chairman of the Turner Foundation, which he founded in 1990 to support environmental causes.
Ted Turner, the business magnate who founded CNN and Turner Broadcasting System, has died. He was 87.
Turner Enterprises announced the tragic news on Wednesday with a statement from the family, revealing that the billionaire entrepreneur died peacefully and surrounded by his family. A cause of death was not immediately available, but he was known to be battling Lewy body dementia in recent years.
"Ted was an intensely involved and committed leader, intrepid, fearless and always willing to back a hunch and trust his own judgement," CNN CEO Mark Thompson 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."
Turner had been married three times, notably to actress Jane Fonda from 1991 to 2001.
Born Robert Edward Turner III on Nov. 19, 1938, in Cincinnati, Turner grew up to take over his family's billboard advertising company, Turner Advertising, after his father's death in 1963. In 1970, he entered the TV business through the acquisition of the struggling Atlanta-based station UHF.
Five years later, Turner invented the "superstation," which used a satellite to broadcast the TV channel that went on to become Turner Broadcasting System, or TBS. In 1976, he continued to flex his business muscles by buying the Atlanta Braves so he could broadcast the Major League Baseball team's games on his station.
Turner launched CNN, the first 24-hour cable news network, on June 1, 1980, alongside Reese Schonfeld, and was also the founder of TNT, TBS and Cartoon Network, as well as co-creator of Captain Planet and the Planeteers. The success of CNN — which counted an audience of 165 million households around the world going into the 21st century — saw Turner Broadcasting expanding into other businesses including CNN Headline News, CNN International, TNT, Cartoon Network and Turner Classic Movies.
The man dubbed "Mouth of the South" sold Turner Broadcasting to Time Warner in 1996 for $7.3 billion in stock, but served as vice chairman of the company until 2003 and resigned from the board in 2006.
Due to his vast work in media, Turner was the recipient of a wide range of awards and honors throughout his life — including Lifetime Achievement Emmys in both Sports and News & Documentary, a Walter Cronkite Award for Excellence in Journalism, an Edward R. Murrow Award for Lifetime Achievement in Communication, a Peabody Award, a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, entry into the Television Hall of Fame, a spot as Time magazine's Man of the Year for 1991, and even a 1995 World Series ring.
In addition to his business venture successes, Turner was also a recognized philanthropist and the chairman of the Turner Foundation, which he founded in 1990 to support environmental causes. He pledged to donate $1 billion to the United Nations in 1997 — of which he made his final payment in 2015 — and the following year created the United Nations Foundation, which aims to promote a more just world. He then founded the Nuclear Threat Initiative in 2001 to protect the globe from nuclear weapons.
In September 2018, Turner revealed he was diagnosed with Lewy body dementia in an interview with CBS Sunday Morning.
"It's a mild case of what people have as Alzheimer's. It's similar to that. But not nearly as bad. Alzheimer's is fatal," Turner said of the condition, which is caused by abnormal protein deposits that build up over time and disrupt normal brain function. "Thank goodness I don't have that. But, I also have got, let's — the one that's — I can't remember the name of it," he said, pausing momentarily before adding, "Dementia. I can't remember what my disease is."
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Turner is survived by five children, 14 grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren.
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