Ted Turner, the brash and outspoken television pioneer who created a media empire and transformed the news business by creating CNN and introducing the 24-hour cable news cycle, died Wednesday. He was 87.
He died surrounded by his family, according to Turner Enterprises, the company that oversees his vast businesses and investments.
Turner was the force behind Cartoon Network, TNT and Turner Classic Movies. But his interests expanded far beyond media — owning professional sports teams in Atlanta and huge chunks of the American West, fueling conservation efforts through habitat restoration and endangered species work.
He donated a stunning US$1 billion to United Nations charities and raced yachts too, winning the America’s Cup in 1977.
Turner married actor Jane Fonda in 1991, when he was named Time magazine’s Man of the Year. By then, he was a celebrity in his own right, earning the nicknames Captain Outrageous and The Mouth of the South.
He once bragged: “If only I had a little humility, I’d be perfect.”
He was slowed in later years by Lewy body dementia. Long since out of the television business, he concentrated on philanthropy and his more than 800,000 hectares of property, including the nation’s largest bison herd.
His garrulous personality sometimes overshadowed a driven, risk-taking business acumen. By the time he sold his Turner Broadcasting System to Time Warner Inc. in a 1996 media megadeal, Turner had turned his late father’s billboard company into a global conglomerate that included seven major cable networks, three professional sports teams and a pair of hit movie studios.
President Donald Trump, reacting to Turner's death, called him “one of the Greats of All Time”.
“Whenever I needed him, he was there, always willing to fight for a good cause!” Trump posted on social media.
The morning's headlines in 90 seconds, including the US strikes an Iranian flagged ship, and the people who left a virus ridden cruise ship early are forced into isolation. (Source: 1News)
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