CNN founder, veteran television producer, and philanthropist Ted Turner has passed away at the age of 87, as per a media release by Turner Enterprises on Wednesday.
“Ted was an intensely involved and committed leader, intrepid, fearless and always willing to back a hunch and trust his own judgement,” Mark Thompson, Chairman and CEO of CNN Worldwide, said in a statement, adding that Ted 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 recognise him and his impact on our lives and the world," Thompson underlined.
The American Entrepreneur launched CNN, a 24-hour network, on June 1 in the year 1980. Born in Ohio, Atlanta, Turner was known as the Mouth of the South” because of his outspoken nature.
His media empire included cable's first superstation and popular channels for movies and cartoons, along with professional sports teams like the Atlanta Braves.
Named as the Time magazine's Man of the Year for “influencing the dynamic of events and turning viewers in 150 countries into instant witnesses of history," in 1991; the media mogul eventually sold his networks to Time Warner and later quit the business.
In 2018, a little over a month before his 80th birthday, Turner revealed that he had Lewy body dementia, a progressive brain disorder. In early 2025, Turner was hospitalised with a mild case of pneumonia before recovering at a rehabilitation facility.
The philanthropist is survived by his five children, 14 grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren.
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