Ted Turner dies aged 87: Billionaire founded CNN and was married to Jane Fonda

CNN founder Ted Turner has died at the age of 87.

The billionaire died Wednesday, according to the cable news network he founded.

Turner had four children and was married to famous Hollywood star Jane Fonda between 1991 and 2001.

Nicknamed the Mouth of the South for his outspokenness, Turner built a media empire that included several cable and satellite sports stations. He also owned the Atlanta Braves for decades.

Turner founded CNN, the first 24-hour cable news channel, in 1980.

Eleven years later, he was named Time’s Man of the Year for the station’s live coverage of current events.

CNN Worldwide CEO Mark Thompson acknowledged her death in a statement.

A cause was not given, but Turner was known to have dementia with Lewy bodies.

The billionaire media mogul was married to actress Jane Fonda between 1991 and 2001. Above, the former couple is seen in 1990.

“He was, and always will be, the presidential soul of CNN,” Thompson wrote of Turner.

‘Ted is the giant on whose shoulders we stand, and today we will all take some time to recognize him and his impact on our lives and the world.’

Thompson also praised the TNT founder as ‘an intensely caring and determined leader, brave, fearless and always willing to back a hunch and trust his own judgement’.

Turner officially resigned from Turner Broadcasting System, which includes CNN, in 2006.

He was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, in November 1938. He takes over a floundering family billboard business after his father’s suicide He began his television career in 1970 by purchasing several radio stations and a troubled Atlanta station.

Turner managed to turn the channel around within a decade. He used his profits to help found CNN. It quickly gained traction in the United States and later internationally.

The launch comes at a time when viewers are shifting from broadcast to cable; CNN later emerged as a major news source during the Persian Gulf War in the early ’90s.

The channel’s success inspired the creation of many other 24-hour news channels, including Fox News.

Born in Cincinnati, Ohio, in November 1938, Turner took over a floundering family billboard business after his father’s suicide and turned it into a sprawling media empire.

Turner was also a major philanthropist and donated to various causes over the decades.

Turner’s television empire has expanded beyond CNN with TBS and TNT, Turner Classic Movies, and Cartoon Network, among his other creations.

Turner also tried to acquire CBS in the ’80s but was unsuccessful. He also owned Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) for a time, then sold the storied studio for a fraction of what he paid to retain the rights to much of its film catalog.

This smart business move helped launch both TNT and Turner Classic Movies, while also allowing Turner to curate content for a then-growing TBS. Movies like Gone with the Wind and The Wizard of Oz filled time slots, as did syndicated shows like The Andy Griffith Show.

The deals continued and grew in scope in the 1990s, when Turner Broadcasting merged with Time Warner and Turner became vice president of a newly formed entertainment powerhouse.

In 2001, Time Warner merged with America Online in a $165 billion deal billed as the largest merger in corporate history.

But the merger failed within a decade, largely due to the decline of AOL, which used an inflated stock price to get the deal done at the height of its success. Turner, the largest shareholder, lost billions of dollars.

He later admitted that Turner, who is in his mid-60s and semi-retired, lost about $8 billion as a result.

As of Wednesday, his net worth was estimated at $2.8 billion, according to Forbes. The advertising business he inherited from his late father was worth $1 million.

Turner’s television empire has expanded beyond CNN with TBS and TNT, Turner Classic Movies and Cartoon Network, among other productions.

Turner as a guest on Meet the Press in 2008

Turner remained Time Warner’s vice chairman until 2003 and a board member until 2006.

His 50-year career is widely viewed as groundbreaking.

Turner assets Warner Bros. In his own statement, Discovery CEO David Zaslav called Turner “a visionary, a trailblazer, and a member of Warner Bros.” He praised it as ‘the fundamental force behind many of the brands that are at the heart of Discovery’.

‘Ted’s entrepreneurial spirit, creative passion and willingness to take risks changed the media industry forever.

‘He believed deeply in the power of ideas, in doing things differently, and in creating platforms to inform, inspire and connect people around the world.

‘This belief has inspired generations of leaders, including me. It didn’t just bother the media. It transformed him,” said Zaslav.

Turner revealed to CBS in 2018 that he was struggling with Lewy body dementia; It is a progressive brain disorder that people consider a ‘mild case of Alzheimer’s’.

“It looks like this, but it’s not that bad,” Turner told then-CBS Sunday Morning host Ted Koppel. ‘Tired. Tired. These are the main symptoms. And forgetfulness,” he said.

Turner at the official CNN launch event in Atlanta, Georgia, in June 1980. The station is widely credited with revolutionizing the way Americans consume news.

Turner was named Time’s Man of the Year in 1991 for CNN’s live coverage of current events such as the Persian Gulf War.

Donald Trump also paid tribute to Turner in a post on Truth Social on Wednesday.

After reviewing CNN’s current leadership, the president called the businessman ‘one of the Greats in Broadcasting History.’

Trump also greeted him as a ‘friend’.

‘He was there whenever I needed him, always ready to fight for a good cause!’

Turner’s philanthropic efforts included the Goodwill Games, the Better World Society, the Nuclear Threat Initiative (in 2001), and the Turner Foundation.

In a pledge he made in 2010, he cited his philosophy of ‘giving back’ to his late father, who he said was “also a philanthropist with his own small resources.”

“Not only did he contribute to causes he cared about, but he also supported tuition for two African-American students at his alma mater, Millsaps College, in the late 1950s,” Turner said at the time.

‘I was touched to see someone as hard-working as my father taking the time to quietly help two such young people.’

‘I am especially grateful for my father’s advice to set life-long goals that are too high to achieve and to help where help is needed most,’ he added.

Fonda once described Turner as her “favorite ex-husband.” Above, on her wedding day in 1991

Turner had five children from his first two marriages.

‘This inspiration keeps me energized and motivated every day to give back and continue to work hard to make the world a better place for future generations.’

Turner had five children from his first two marriages. Fonda, 88, was his third wife. The couple was married for ten years before Fonda filed for divorce in April 2001.

Fonda also described him as her ‘favorite ex-husband’ after being married three times.

Turner never remarried. In November, Fonda attended an event held in honor of the charity she and Turner founded.

‘Ted is not here, but he is in my heart, and I know many of us are here in our hearts,’ she said at the time.

In her later years, Turner was an active yoga practitioner and was known to travel around her massive ranch in Montana on horseback.

It is not yet clear when he received his dementia diagnosis. The disease also affected actor Robin Williams before his death in 2014.