Ted Turner: CNN Founder and Media Pioneer Dies at 87.

‎Ted Turner: CNN Founder and Media Pioneer Dies at 87. ‎ ‎"The man who changed television forever passed away on May 6, 2026, leaving behind a legacy that transformed news, sports, and entertainment." ‎ ‎Ted Turner, the billionaire media mogul who founded CNN and revolutionized how the world consumes news, died on Wednesday, May 6, 2026. He was 87 years old. ‎ ‎Turner Enterprises confirmed his death in a news release. Family members were by his side at the time of his passing. ‎ ‎The man they called "Captain Outrageous" and "The Mouth of the South" had largely stayed out of the public eye in recent years. In 2018, Turner announced he was suffering from Lewy body dementia, a progressive brain disorder. In early 2025, he was hospitalized with a mild case of pneumonia and spent time in a rehabilitation facility. ‎ ‎He leaves behind five children, fourteen grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren. ‎ ‎**From Billboards to Broadcasting** ‎ ‎Turner was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, on November 19, 1938. His path to becoming one of America's most influential media figures was not a smooth one. He took over his father's billboard company, Turner Outdoor Advertising, at just 24 years old after his father died by suicide. ‎ ‎But Turner was not content selling advertising space. He wanted to be in the content business. ‎ ‎He bought several radio stations in the 1960s. Then, in 1970, he purchased a struggling UHF station in Atlanta, Channel 17. In 1976, he did something nobody had done before. He beamed Channel 17's signal to a satellite, turning a small local station into the nation's first "superstation" that cable subscribers across the country could watch. ‎ ‎That station became TBS, and it was just the beginning. ‎ ‎**The Birth of CNN** ‎ ‎On June 1, 1980, Turner took his biggest gamble. He launched the Cable News Network, the world's first 24-hour, all-news television channel. ‎ ‎At the time, critics mocked it. They called it the "chicken noodle network." They said nobody would watch news around the clock. They said it would fail within months. ‎ ‎Turner did not listen. ‎ ‎"I was going to have to hit hard and move incredibly fast," Turner recalled in a 2016 interview. "Move so fast that the broadcast networks wouldn't have the time to respond, because they should have done this, not me. But they didn't have the imagination." ‎ ‎CNN's breakthrough came during the Gulf War in 1991. While other networks had pulled their journalists out of Baghdad, CNN stayed. The world watched as CNN correspondents reported live from a hotel balcony while anti-aircraft tracers lit up the sky. It was the moment cable news proved it could compete with the big three networks. ‎ ‎**The Media Empire** ‎ ‎CNN was only part of Turner's empire. He built Turner Broadcasting System into a cable powerhouse that included: ‎ ‎- **TNT** (Turner Network Television) ‎- **TCM** (Turner Classic Movies) ‎- **Cartoon Network** ‎- **Headline News** (now HLN) ‎ ‎He also bought the Atlanta Braves baseball team in 1976 and the Atlanta Hawks basketball team, partly to ensure his stations always had content to broadcast. The Braves became a national brand because Turner beamed their games to every cable household in America. ‎ ‎In 1996, Turner sold his company to Time Warner in a megadeal worth $7.3 billion in stock. It was a deal he later regretted. ‎ ‎"I made a mistake," he said. "The mistake I made was losing control of the company." ‎ ‎**Net Worth at Time of Death** ‎ ‎At his peak in the late 1990s, Turner's net worth was estimated at around $10 billion. By the time of his death, that number had fallen significantly due to large-scale philanthropy and the changing media landscape. ‎ ‎Multiple sources estimate Turner's net worth at his death was between $2.2 billion and $2.8 billion. ‎ ‎He remained one of America's largest private landowners, with holdings of approximately 2 million acres across eight states. His land was home to the nation's largest private bison herd, numbering more than 45,000 animals. ‎ ‎**Philanthropy and the $1 Billion Gift** ‎ ‎In 1997, Turner made what was then the largest charitable donation in American history. He pledged $1 billion to support United Nations causes. ‎ ‎The donation established the UN Foundation, which continues to support global health, climate change, and women's rights initiatives. It was a stunning act of giving that inspired other billionaires, including Warren Buffett and Bill Gates, to make similar pledges. ‎ ‎**Marriages and Personal Life** ‎ ‎Turner married three times. His most famous marriage was to actress Jane Fonda. They were married from 1991 to 2001. He often spoke fondly of Fonda even after their divorce. ‎ ‎He also married Judy Nye (1964-1988) and later married his third wife, whom he divorced in 2005. ‎ ‎**Trump's Reaction and CNN's Future** ‎ ‎President Donald Trump weighed in on Turner's death on Wednesday, calling him "one of the Greats of All Time" in a social media post. ‎ ‎Trump praised Turner's role in founding CNN but used the moment to criticize the network's direction after Turner left. ‎ ‎"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," Trump wrote. ‎ ‎Trump added that Turner was "a friend of mine. Whenever I needed him, he was there, always willing to fight for a good cause!" ‎ ‎CNN chairman and CEO Mark Thompson released a statement praising Turner's legacy. ‎ ‎"Ted was an intensely involved and committed leader, intrepid, fearless and always willing to back a hunch and trust his own judgment," Thompson said. "He was and always will be the presiding spirit of CNN." ‎ ‎**The Final Years** ‎ ‎Turner had been struggling with Lewy body dementia, a condition he announced in 2018. The disease affects thinking, memory, and movement. It gradually forced him to step back from public life. ‎ ‎His last major public appearance was rare. He spent much of his final years on his sprawling ranch properties, surrounded by family and, of course, bison. ‎ ‎In early 2025, he was hospitalized with mild pneumonia. He recovered but remained in a rehabilitation facility for some time. His health continued to decline over the following year. ‎ ‎**What He Leaves Behind** ‎ ‎Ted Turner changed television forever. ‎ ‎Before CNN, Americans had three choices for evening news: ABC, CBS, or NBC. If you missed the 6:30 broadcast, you waited until 11:00. Turner decided that made no sense. He bet everything on the idea that people wanted news when they wanted it, not when network schedules told them to watch. ‎ ‎He was right. ‎ ‎He was brash. He was arrogant. He once said, "If only I had a little humility, I'd be perfect." He raced yachts and defended the America's Cup in 1977. He was married to one of Hollywood's biggest stars. He gave away a billion dollars. He owned baseball and basketball teams. He built the largest bison herd in America. ‎ ‎But his greatest legacy remains CNN. Even as the network struggles today with changing viewing habits and political polarization, it exists because one man refused to listen when everyone told him he was wrong. ‎ ‎Ted Turner will be remembered as a pioneer, a philanthropist, and one of the most consequential media figures of the 20th century. ‎ ‎He died on May 6, 2026. He was 87 years old. ‎ ‎He is survived by his children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. ‎ ‎Written by DDM ATIQ