Ted Turner, the media entrepreneur who founded CNN, the world’s first 24-hour cable news network, has died at the age of 87, Turner Enterprises said on Wednesday.
Turner died at his home near Tallahassee, Florida, after living with Lewy body dementia, which he disclosed publicly in 2018.
Born Robert Edward Turner III on November 19, 1938, he took over his father’s billboard advertising business in 1963 following his father’s death. He later expanded into broadcasting, building a media empire that included WTBS, TNT, and Cartoon Network.
In 1980, Turner launched CNN, introducing continuous television news coverage at a time when 24-hour broadcasting was widely seen as commercially unviable. The network went on to become a major global news outlet.
Turner also owned the Atlanta Braves baseball team, which won the World Series in 1995, and was involved in several media and entertainment ventures, including the creation of the animated series Captain Planet and the Planeteers.
He was known for his philanthropic work, including a $1bn donation to the United Nations and support for environmental conservation efforts through land preservation initiatives.
Turner was married three times, including to actress Jane Fonda from 1991 to 2001, and had five children.
Tributes from across the media and business sectors described him as a major figure in modern broadcasting whose work reshaped global news coverage.
