UNITED NATIONS, Dec 12: “I went from no money to a pile of money as big as the World Trade Center, and then just like the World Trade Center, it was gone overnight,” said Media mogul and founder of CNN Ted Turner on Wednesday.

Turner had pledged one billion dollars to the United Nations and was being honoured here on at a luncheon. He said he hoped to replenish his wealth so he can continue giving money to help the global organization that he has loved since he was a boy.

Half of the one billion dollars Turner pledged in 1997 has already been given. The rest was supposed to be paid out over the next five years, but the board overseeing the donation decided this summer to spread that last $500 million over another decade.

Applauding businessman, philanthropist’s huge donation to the world body, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan said that Turner’s donations and contributions have enabled the world body to do things “we could never imagine.”

The Turner “foundation has helped us strengthen the UN institutionally — at the Headquarters and in the field,” Annan said.

Turner on his part assured: “Hopefully, I’m going to make another fortune. I’ve started a restaurant chain. It’s hard to make money in the restaurant business,” he said, with a big laugh. “But I’m going to try to make another fortune to replace the one I lost so I can give more later. But at least we’re pretty well set for the next 10 years if things don’t get worse.”

Turner’s personal worth, mostly wrapped up in AOL-Time Warner stock, has dwindled from around eight billion dollars to about 1.6 billion dollars.

Turner said that the billion dollar he gave the United Nations represented about a third of his fortune at the time, which he called “a lot for someone in his 50s”, noting that most people usually give away large sums of money in their 70s “before the priest comes to say good-bye”.