Billionaire Media Mogul And CNN Founder Ted Turner Dies At 87

Last Updated:May 06, 2026, 20:03 IST

CNN founder Ted Turner, a media mogul who pioneered 24-hour global TV news with CNN in 1980, has died at age 87, reports say he passed away on Wednesday

Ted Turner created CNN in 1980, revolutionizing the way America, and the world, got their news, and then went on to become one of the most prominent business leaders and philanthropists of his era.

A brash risk taker, Turner — whose death aged 87 was announced on Wednesday — helped reshape the television industry in the late 20th century.

He also made a name for himself with spectacular business deals, his ownership of professional sports clubs, a marriage to actress Jane Fonda, his leadership of a competitive yachting team and then a devotion to charitable and environmental causes.

Born in Cincinnati, Ohio in November 1938, Robert Edward “Ted" Turner III went to a military boarding school in Tennessee, and then attended Brown University, but was expelled before graduating.

Turner took over a faltering family advertising business after his father, despondent over financial problems, committed suicide.

After buying a number of radio stations, Turner’s purchase of a struggling Atlanta station in 1970 was his first move into television.

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