Ted Turner, the man who made cable news what it is today, has died.

He was 87 years old.

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CNN announced his death on Wednesday, citing a release from Turner Enterprises.

Turner was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, on Nov. 19, 1938. He attended Brown University from 1957 to 1960, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts/Science, and served in the U.S. Coast Guard.

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The “Mouth of the South,” as he was called, had a simple motto for success, according to CNN, “Early to bed, early to rise, work like hell and advertise.”

Advertising is where he got his start in business in 1963 when he took over the family’s business, Turner Advertising Co., after the death of his father, Robert Edward Turner.

Ted Turner renamed it Turner Communications Group and bought two independent UHF stations in Atlanta and Charlotte, North Carolina, renaming WTCG and WRET after himself.

In 1976, he launched TBS as a “superstation” using satellites to beam the channel across the country. TBS was followed by TNT in 1988, The Cartoon Network in 1992 and Turner Classic Movies/TCM in 1994.

Four years later, he changed the face of reporting by launching the first 24-hour cable news network, CNN, followed two years later by CNN Headline News.

In 1985, he focused on movies by buying MGM-UA Entertainment and its vast library of classic films.

But he wasn’t just in the television game. Turner was also a philanthropist, founding the Turner Foundation in 1990 to help preserve the global environment. The next year, Time magazine selects him as “Man of the Year.”

In 1996, he sold Turner Broadcasting System to Time Warner for $7.34 billion and is the vice chairman of the company, serving as a member of the Board of Directors until 2001, when Time Warner merged with AOL to create AOL Time Warner, where he serves as vice chairman until 2003 and the board of directors until 2006.

He pledged up to $1 billion to the United Nations in 1997 and then in 1998, launched the United Nations Foundation to” promote a more peaceful, prosperous and just world. UNF has identified four core priorities: women and population; children’s health; the environment; and peace and security.”

Turner launched Ted’s Montana Grill, first in Columbus, Ohio, with partner and founder of Longhorn Steakhouse, George McKerrow, Jr., with dishes that focus on bison or beef. There are 39 Ted’s Montana Grill’s nationwide, his officials website said.

In 2018, he shared his medical diagnosis of Lewy body dementia on “CBS Sunday Morning.”

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Turner was married several times, first to Judy Nye in the 1960s, then Jane Smith, and finally his most famous wife, Jane Fonda, whom he married in 1991. All three relationships ended in divorce.

He also had several children with his first two wives: with Smith, he had Beau, Rhett, and Jennie, and with Nye, he had Laura Lee and Robert Edward IV.

As of April 20, 2026, Turner was worth $2.8 billion and was #1520 of the world’s richest people according to Forbes.

Among his ventures is about 2 million acres of land across the U.S., making him the third-largest individual landowner in the country. He owned more than 30,000 acres in Florida, called Avalon Plantation, which was the site of his wedding to Fonda, Forbes said. His St. Phillips Island became part of a state park when he transferred ownership to South Carolina.

He also had a hand in the sports world, buying the Atlanta Braves in 1976 and the Atlanta Hawks in 1977, The New York Times reported at the time. He said he bought control of the team to keep the Hawks in Atlanta.

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