CNN founder and legendary media mogul Ted Turner dies at 87
Kyiv • UNN
CNN founder Ted Turner has died at the age of 87, surrounded by his family. He created the first 24-hour news network and was a prominent philanthropist.
Ted Turner, the media rebel and philanthropist who founded CNN, the pioneering 24-hour network that revolutionized television news, died peacefully on Wednesday surrounded by his family. He was 87. This was reported by CNN with reference to a press release from Turner Enterprises, according to UNN.
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The Ohio-born Atlanta businessman, nicknamed "The Mouth of the South" for his outspokenness, built a media empire that spanned the first cable superstation and popular movie and cartoon channels, as well as professional sports teams such as the Atlanta Braves.
Turner was also a world-renowned yachtsman; a philanthropist who founded the United Nations Foundation; an activist who sought the global elimination of nuclear weapons; and a conservationist who became one of the leading landowners in the United States. He played a crucial role in returning bison to the American West. He even created the cartoon "Captain Planet" to teach children about the environment.
But it was his bold vision to deliver news from around the world in real-time, at any time of day, that truly made him famous – once his idea finally gained traction.
In 1991, Turner was named Time magazine's Man of the Year for "influencing the dynamics of events and turning viewers in 150 countries into instant witnesses to history."
Turner eventually sold his networks to Time Warner and later retired from the business, but continued to take pride in CNN, calling it the "greatest achievement" of his life.
"Ted was an incredibly engaged and committed leader, fearless, intrepid, and always ready to lean on intuition and trust his own judgment," said Mark Thompson, Chairman and CEO of CNN Worldwide. "He was and always will be the guiding spirit of CNN. Ted is the giant on whose shoulders we stand, and we will all take a moment today to celebrate him and his impact on our lives and the world."
Just over a month before his 80th birthday in 2018, Turner announced he had Lewy body dementia, a progressive brain disease. In early 2025, Turner was hospitalized with a mild form of pneumonia before recovering in a rehabilitation center.
Turner is survived by five children, 14 grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren.