The visionary media entrepreneur who founded CNN and reshaped global television news with the world’s first 24-hour news network, Ted Turner, has died at the age of 87, according to a statement from Turner Enterprises.
Turner, an Ohio-born businessman who built his career in Atlanta, earned a reputation for boldness and outspokenness that won him the nickname “The Mouth of the South.” Over decades, he constructed a vast media and business empire that extended far beyond news broadcasting, including cable television superstations, movie and cartoon networks, and ownership of major sports franchises such as the Atlanta Braves.
Beyond media, Turner was widely recognised as a yachtsman, philanthropist, environmental advocate and conservationist. He founded the United Nations Foundation, campaigned for the global elimination of nuclear weapons, and became one of the largest private landowners in the United States. His environmental legacy also included efforts to reintroduce bison to the American West and the creation of the animated series Captain Planet to educate children about environmental protection.
However, Turner’s most enduring legacy remains CNN, launched in 1980 as an ambitious attempt to deliver continuous, real-time news coverage from around the world. Though initially met with scepticism, the network went on to transform how global audiences consume news.
In 1991, Turner was named Time magazine’s Man of the Year for “influencing the dynamic of events and turning viewers in 150 countries into instant witnesses of history.”
He later sold his media empire to Time Warner and stepped away from day-to-day business operations, but consistently described CNN as his proudest achievement.
“Ted was an intensely involved and committed leader, intrepid, fearless and always willing to back a hunch and trust his own judgement,” Mark Thompson, Chairman and CEO of CNN Worldwide, 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’s health declined in recent years. Just over a month before his 80th birthday in 2018, he disclosed that he had Lewy body dementia, a progressive brain disorder. In early 2025, he was hospitalised with pneumonia but later recovered in a rehabilitation facility.
He is survived by his five children, 14 grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren.
Boluwatife Enome
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