BREAKING: CNN founder Ted Turner dead at 87
“He was and always will be the presiding spirit of CNN.”
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“He was and always will be the presiding spirit of CNN.”
The founder of CNN, Ted Turner, has died at the age of 87. In 2018, he revealed that he had Lewy body dementia.
CNN Worldwide CEO and Chairman Mark Thompson said in a statement, "Ted was an intensely involved and committed leader, intrepid, fearless and always willing to back a hunch and trust his own judgement. 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 was widely regarded as the creator of the 24-hour news cycle with CNN, which brought news to viewers at all hours of the day and night when it launched in 1980. Turner also created CNN Headline News, CNN International, as well as the entertainment superstation that would go on to be known as TBS, in addition to TNT. He bought MGM studio’s library of films in 1985 and launched the cable franchise Turner Classic Movies, and made a similar purchase of Hanna-Barbera cartoons and launched Cartoon Network.
In addition to being a media mogul, Turner was a philanthropist and conservationist, playing a crucial role in reintroducing bison to the American West and creating the Captain Planet cartoon to educate children about the environment. He also captained the winning yacht in the America’s Cup race in 1977, and owned the Atlanta Braves for a period of time.
Turner told Reader's Digest in 1998, "I’m trying to set the all-time record for achievement by one person in one lifetime. And that puts you in pretty big company: Alexander the Great, Napoleon, Gandhi, Christ, Mohammed, Buddha, Washington, Roosevelt, Churchill."
Trump wrote in the wake of Turner's passing, "Ted Turner, one of the Greats of All Time, just died. He founded CNN, sold it, and was personally devastated by the Deal because the new ownership took CNN, his 'baby,' and destroyed it. It became woke, and everything that he is 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!"
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