CNN founder Ted Turner dies at 87

Ted Turner, media mogul, philanthropist and founder of CNN, died at his home near Tallahassee, Fla., on Wednesday. He was 87.

CNN first reported Turner’s death, citing a news release from Turner Enterprises.

In September 2018, Turner disclosed that he had Lewy body dementia, which is a progressive brain disorder that affects memory and cognitive functions.

Turner transformed American cable television by establishing the first 24-hour news channel in the nation on June 1, 1980: the Cable News Network, CNN.

"Ted was an intensely involved and committed leader, intrepid, fearless and always willing to back a hunch and trust his own judgment," CNN chairman and CEO Mark Thompson said in a statement Wednesday on X . "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."

The billionaire entrepreneur was previously married to actor Jane Fonda from 1991 to 2001, and the two remained close friends afterward.

He is survived by his five children, 14 grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren.

Turner’s early life and business career

Born Robert Edward Turner III on Nov. 19, 1938, in Cincinnati, his family moved to Savannah, Ga., when he was 9.

Turner attended Brown University, where he was captain of the sailing team while pursuing a degree in economics. He was expelled for having a woman in his dorm room.

He returned to Georgia to work for his father’s struggling billboard company, Turner Outdoor Advertising. After his father’s suicide in 1963, Turner inherited the business and expanded it, earning enough money to buy a local television station in Atlanta.

It eventually became the WTBS “superstation”  in the early days of cable television, broadcasting Atlanta Braves and Atlanta Hawks games and reaching tens of millions of homes.

Turner bought the lowly Braves and Hawks franchises in the late 1970s. (Under Turner, the Braves became known as “America’s Team,” winning a World Series title in 1995.)

‘Captain Outrageous’

He kept up with sailing, winning the 1977 America’s Cup on his yacht, Courageous. The victory earned him the nickname “Captain Outrageous.”

But perhaps his biggest feat came in 1980, when he launched the first 24-hour all-news cable channel, CNN.

“I’m often asked if we ever did any formal research on the viability of a 24-hour cable news, and my answer is no,” Turner wrote in his 2008 memoir, Call Me Ted . “I had spent over five years thinking about it, and it was time to get going.”

The rise of CNN

CNN's first broadcast, on June 1, 1980, went to 1.7 million cable television subscribers across America.

The fledgling news network found its footing with wall-to-wall coverage of news events, including the 1986 Space Shuttle Challenger disaster, the 1989 fall of the Berlin Wall, and the 1991 Gulf War.

Turner was named Time magazine’s Man of the Year in 1991. "CNN, once derided as the 'Chicken Noodle Network' for its low wages and amateurish presentation, is now the video medium of record," Time declared in its cover story.

But Turner wasn’t done. He launched Cartoon Network in 1992 (two years after developing his own environmentally themed cartoon, Captain Planet and the Planeteers ) and Turner Classic Movies in 1994.

In 1996, Turner sold his Turner Broadcasting System conglomerate, which included CNN, TBS, TNT and the Cartoon Network, to Time Warner, the predecessor to Warner Bros. Discovery.

David Zaslav, CEO of Warner Bros. Discovery, praised Turner as a “foundational force” behind many of the company’s brands in a memo to employees on Wednesday.

“Ted’s entrepreneurial spirit, creative ambition and willingness to take risks changed the media industry forever,” Zaslav wrote. “He believed deeply in the power of ideas, in doing things differently and in building platforms that could inform, inspire and connect people around the world. That belief inspired generations of leaders, myself included. He did not just disrupt media. He transformed it.”

Ted and Jane

In 1990, Ted Turner began dating two-time Oscar winner Jane Fonda shortly after her divorce from Tom Hayden.

True to his bold, self-assured style, Turner tracked down Fonda’s number, called her, and made his interest in her clear. They began dating once Fonda let her guard down. Their romance quickly made headlines for their seemingly opposite personalities: he, a brash, right-leaning billionaire; she, an outspoken Hollywood liberal.

They married in 1991 on Turner’s 8,100-acre plantation in Capps, Fla., and honeymooned as a blended family with Fonda’s three children and Turner’s five, both from previous marriages.

They separated in 2001, citing irreconcilable differences. Still, the split was amicable. Spotting Turner at a charity event later that year, Fonda quipped: “My favorite ex-husband!”

Trump calls Turner ‘one of the Greats’

President Trump also paid tribute to the late billionaire, calling him “one of the Greats of All Time” in a post on Truth Social , but not without a jab at CNN.

The president said he was “personally devastated” by Turner’s decision to sell CNN to Time Warner because the owners “destroyed it” and turned it “woke.” He added that Turner was “a friend of mine” and was willing to “fight for a good cause.”

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