CNN founder and media mogul Ted Turner has passed away aged 87.
Turner transformed the media landscape in 1980 when he launched the Cable News Network, known as CNN. The channel introduced audiences to 24-hour news coverage and changes how people consumed politics, world events and breaking news.
He built his media empire off the back of his late father’s billboard business, eventually evolving Turner Broadcasting System into a global media empire. Alongside CNN, he also founded major television brands including TBS and the Cartoon Network, whilst owning professional sports teams and movie studios. He sold the company in 1996 to Time Warner in a landmark US$7.5 billion dollar deal.
Recognised for this outspoken personality, Turner was commonly referred to as “The Mouth of the South” and “Caption Outrageous”. He famously joked “If only I had a little humility, I’d be perfect”.
Outside the media landscape, Turner was an environmental advocate and philanthropist. He notably donated US$1 billion to various United Nations causes and become a supporter of conservation efforts across the US.
Turner was married three times, once famously to Jane Fonda from 1991 until 2001.
Fonda paid tribute to Turner in an Instagram post. She said: “I loved Ted with all my heart. I see him in heaven now with all the wildlife he helped bring back from extinction – the black footed ferrets, the prairie dogs, Big Horned sheep, Mexican Gray Wolf, the Yellowstone wolf pack, bison, the red cockaded woodpecker and so many more, they’re all gathered at the pearly gates applauding and thanking him for saving their species.”
“Rest in Peace, dearest Ted. You are loved and you will be remembered.”
Donald Trump also paid tribute in a post to X.: “Ted Turner, one of the Greats of All Time, just died. He founded CNN, sold it, and it was personally devastated by the deal because the new ownership took CNN, his “baby” and destroyed it. It became woke, and everything that he was not all about. Maybe the new buyers, wonderful people, will be able to bring it back to its former credibility and glory. Regardless, however, one of the Greats of Broadcast History, and a friend of mine. Whenever I needed him, he was there, always willing to fight for a good cause.”
In his later years, Turner had stepped back from public life following his Lewy body dementia diagnosis, shifting focus to his environmental work and philanthropy.
