WASHINGTON: Ted Turner, the brash sportsman and entrepreneur whose ambition and instincts built a media empire that included the groundbreaking 24-hour news network CNN, has died aged 87, the network reported on Wednesday, citing a press release from Turner Enterprises.
No cause of death was given. In September 2018, Turner revealed that he had Lewy body dementia, a degenerative nerve disease. A personality as roguish and bold as Turner’s could not be contained by one nickname. He was known variously as the “Mouth of the South,” “Captain Outrageous” and “Terrible Ted”.
He became a billionaire by taking over his father’s billboard business, buying a failing Atlanta television station in 1970 and parlaying it into a vast, ground-breaking television group.
Turner grew to become one of the most powerful figures in US media and entertainment, with his networks specialising in news, sports, classic movies and reruns.
Robert Edward Turner III was born in Cincinnati on Nov 19, 1938, moving to the South with his family when he was 9. At Brown University, he angered his father by studying the classics rather than business.
Despite his bombastic persona, Turner also became one of the world’s leading environmentalists and philanthropists. In 1997, he made history by announcing a $1 billion donation to fund United Nations operations.
He became one of the largest private landowners in the United States, with more than 1.9 million acres in six states, including Montana, where he spent much of his time. He owned a herd of some 50,000 bison, which supplied a restaurant chain he founded in 2002 called Ted’s Montana Grill.
Forbes magazine estimates Turner’s fortune at $2.8bn..
Published in Dawn, May 7th, 2026
