R.I.P.: Ted Turner, Dead at 87

Robert Edward “Ted” Turner III died peacefully Wednesday, surrounded by his family, according to a spokesperson for the family. He was 87. 

The Ohio-born Atlanta businessman, known as “The Mouth of the South,” built a vast media empire that included cable’s first superstation, popular movie and cartoon channels, and ownership of the Atlanta Braves. He revolutionized television news in 1980 by launching CNN, the world’s first 24-hour news network that delivered real-time coverage from around the globe.

In 1991, Time magazine named him Man of the Year for turning viewers in 150 countries into “instant witnesses of history.” Turner later sold his networks to Time Warner but often called CNN his “greatest achievement.”

Beyond media, Turner was an accomplished yachtsman, a leading philanthropist who founded the United Nations Foundation, and an activist dedicated to eliminating nuclear weapons. A passionate conservationist and one of the largest private landowners in the United States, he played a major role in reintroducing bison to the American West and created the Captain Planet cartoon series to teach children about the environment.

Turner and Fonda

“Ted was an intensely involved and committed leader, intrepid, fearless and always willing to back a hunch and trust his own judgement,” said Mark Thompson, Chairman and CEO of CNN Worldwide. “He was and always will be the presiding spirit of CNN. Ted is the giant on whose shoulders we stand.”

He had been diagnosed with Lewy body dementia, a progressive brain disorder similar to Alzheimer’s disease. The once irrepressible talker often remained quiet at his few public appearances late in life. But at his 80th birthday party in Atlanta in 2018, he took the stage in front of hundreds of family members and friends, including actress Jane Fonda, the ex-wife that referred to him as her favorite ex-husband.

According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Turner ranks as perhaps the most significant and influential business leader in Georgia since Coca-Cola magnate Robert Woodruff. By launching the 24-hour news channel CNN in Atlanta, rather than in a bigger, more prominent metropolis, he bestowed an unlikely level of international attention on a city aching for such a spotlight. 

He reflected Atlanta’s underdog punch-above-its-weight-class attitude. And like many Atlantans, he was a transplant.