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{{short description|American media mogul (born 1938)}}
{{otherpersons}}
{{other people}}
{{Refimprove|date=December 2007}}
{{pp-vandalism|small=yes}}
{{Infobox Celebrity
{{Use American English|date=April 2016}}
| name = Ted Turner
{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2021}}
| image = Ted Turner LF.JPG
{{Infobox person
| birth_name = Robert Edward Turner
| name = Ted Turner
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1938|11|19}}
| image = Ted Turner at the LBJ Foundation.jpg
| birth_place = ], ]
| caption = Turner in 2015
| nationality = American
| birth_name = Robert Edward Turner III
| known_for = ], ], ], ], ], ]
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1938|11|19}}
| death_date =
| birth_place = ], ], U.S.
| death_place =
| death_date =
| occupation = Media tycoon
| death_place =
| networth = {{steady}} $2.0 billion <ref>, '']'', ], Retrieved on ].</ref>
| alma_mater = ]
| spouse = Julia Gale Nye (1960–1964) <br> Jane Shirley Smith (1965–1988) <br> ] (1991–2001)
| occupation = Entrepreneur, television producer, media proprietor, philanthropist
| children = Laura Lee, Robert Edward IV, Rhett, Beauregard, Jennie
| known_for = {{unbulleted list|Founder of ], ], and ]|Co-founder of the ]|Former ] owner||Former ] owner||Former ] owner||Former ] owner|Co-founder of ]|Founder of ]|Co-creator of '']''}}
| website =
| years_active = 1960–present
| footnotes =
| spouse = {{plainlist|
* {{marriage|Julia Gale Nye|1960|1964|end=div}}
* {{marriage|Jane Shirley Smith|1965|1988|end=div}}
* {{marriage|]|1991|2001|end=div}}
}}
| children = 5
| website = {{official URL}}
| footnotes =
| signature = File:Ted signature.svg
}} }}


'''Robert Edward "Ted" Turner III''' (born ], ]<ref>http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9073872/Ted-Turner</ref>) is an ] ] and ]. As a businessman, he is best known as the founder of the ] network ], the first dedicated 24-hour cable news channel. In addition to CNN, he founded ], which pioneered the ] concept in cable television. As a philanthropist, he is well known for his $1 billion pledge to the ] donated through his ]. '''Robert Edward Turner III''' (born November 19, 1938) is an American entrepreneur, television producer, ], and ]. He founded the ] (CNN), the first 24-hour ] channel. In addition, he founded ], which pioneered the ] concept in ], as well as television networks ] and ].


As a philanthropist, he gave $1 billion to create the ], a public charity to broaden U.S. support for the ]. Turner serves as ] of the United Nations Foundation ].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://unfoundation.org/|title=United Nations Foundation &#124; Helping the UN build a better world.|website=Unfoundation.org|access-date=October 21, 2021}}</ref> Additionally, in 2001, Turner co-founded the ] with US Senator ] (D-GA). NTI is a non-partisan organization dedicated to reducing global reliance on, and preventing the proliferation of nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons. He currently serves as co-chairman of the board of directors.
Turner's media empire began with his father's ] business which he took over at the age of 24 after his father's suicide.<ref name=bibb5556>{{cite book| title=Ted Turner: It Ain't As Easy as It Looks: The Amazing Story of CNN| author=Porter Bibb| publisher=Virgin Books| year=1996| isbn=0-86369-892-1| pages=55-56| url=http://www.amazon.com/gp/reader/155566203X/ref=sib_dp_pt/002-4443697-6472033#reader-link}}</ref> The billboard business, ''Turner Outdoor Advertising'', was worth approximately one million dollars when Turner took it over in ]. Purchase of an ] ] station in 1970 began the assemblage of the ]. His ] revolutionized news media, coming to the forefront covering the space shuttle ] in 1986 and the ] in ]. Using his media empire for publicity, Turner turned the ] baseball team into a nationally popular franchise and launched the charitable ].


Turner's penchant for making controversial statements has earned him the nickname "The Mouth of the South".<ref>{{cite book| title=Ted Turner: It Ain't As Easy as It Looks: The Amazing Story of CNN| author=Porter Bibb| publisher=Virgin Books| year=1996| isbn=0-86369-892-1| url=http://www.amazon.com/gp/reader/155566203X/ref=sib_dp_pt/002-4443697-6472033#reader-link| pages=138, 272, 283, 442}}</ref> Turner was also in the news for his much publicized marriage to actress and political activist ], as well as their subsequent divorce. Turner's media empire began with his father's ] business, Turner Outdoor Advertising, which he took over in March 1963 after his father's suicide.<ref name=bibb5556>{{cite book| title=Ted Turner: It Ain't as Easy as It Looks: The Amazing Story of CNN|author= Porter Bibb|publisher=Virgin Books|year=1996|isbn=0-86369-892-1|pages=55–56|url=https://www.amazon.com/gp/reader/155566203X}}</ref> It was worth $1 million. His purchase of an ] ] station in 1970 began the ]. In 1980 he founded CNN, now one of the most prominent news networks in the world. Turner turned the ] baseball team into a nationally popular franchise (including winning the ] under his ownership), and launched the charitable ]. He helped revive interest in ] by purchasing ] which was then rebranded as ] (WCW).


Turner's penchant for controversial statements earned him the nicknames "The Mouth of the South" and "Captain Outrageous".<ref>{{cite book|title=Ted Turner: It Ain't As Easy as It Looks: The Amazing Story of CNN|author=Porter Bibb|publisher=Virgin Books|year=1996|isbn=0-86369-892-1|url= https://www.amazon.com/gp/reader/155566203X|pages=138, 272, 283, 442}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1048325,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101029182734/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1048325,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=October 29, 2010 | title=Captain Outrageous Opens Fire | magazine=Time | first=Stephen | last=Koepp | date=April 12, 2005}}</ref> Turner has also devoted his assets to environmental causes. He was the largest private landowner in the United States until ] surpassed him in 2011.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/turner-becomes-largest-private-landowner-in-us-761711.html |title=Turner becomes largest private landowner in US – Americas, World |newspaper=The Independent |date=December 1, 2007 |access-date=March 29, 2009 |location=London |first=Leonard |last=Doyle |archive-date=May 17, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090517015046/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/turner-becomes-largest-private-landowner-in-us-761711.html |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/29/us/29land.html |title=For Land Barons, Acres by the Millions |work= ] |date=January 28, 2011 |first=Katharine Q. |last=Seelye}}</ref> He uses much of his land for ranches to re-popularize ] meat (for his ] chain) and has amassed the largest herd in the world. He also created the environmental-themed animated series '']''.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1991/03/03/arts/television-cartoons-for-a-small-planet.html|title=Television; Cartoons for a Small Planet|newspaper=New York Times|author=Eve M. Kahn|date=March 3, 1991|access-date=March 9, 2015}}</ref>
In addition to his charitable donations, Turner has devoted his assets to a blend of ] and ], owning more land than any other American, and using much of that land for ranches as part of his plan to re-popularize ] meat (for his ] chain), in the process amassing the largest herd in the world. He also created the environmental education/action animated series '']''. On ], ] Ted Turner was inducted into the Junior Achievement U.S. Business Hall of Fame.


== Biography == == Early life ==
Turner was born on November 19, 1938, in ], ],<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|author=Encyclopædia Britannica |url=http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9073872/Ted-Turner |title=Ted Turner – Britannica Online Encyclopedia |encyclopedia=Britannica.com |access-date=March 24, 2010}}</ref> the son of Florence (née Rooney) and Robert Edward Turner II, a billboard ].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.filmreference.com/film/19/Ted-Turner.html |title=Ted Turner Biography (1938–) |publisher=Film Reference |access-date=March 24, 2010}}</ref> When he was nine, his family moved to ], and raised him as an ].<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IaMPCgAAQBAJ&q=episcopal|isbn=9780313350436|title=Ted Turner: A Biography: A Biography|date=2009|publisher=Abc-Clio}}</ref> He attended ], a private boys' preparatory school in ].
=== Early life ===
Turner was born in ]. When he was nine years old, his family moved to ]. He attended the ], a private, boys preparatory school in ]. Turner attended ] and was vice-president of the ]. He was also a member of the ]. Turner initially majored in ]. After learning of this, Turner's father wrote him a letter saying that his son's choice of major made him "appalled, even horrified," and that he "almost puked." Turner later changed his major to economics. Turner was expelled from Brown in 1960 for having an unauthorized female visitor in his dormitory room.<ref>{{cite book| title=Ted Turner: It Ain't As Easy as It Looks: The Amazing Story of CNN| author=Porter Bibb| publisher=Virgin Books| year=1996| isbn=0-86369-892-1| url=http://www.amazon.com/gp/reader/155566203X/ref=sib_dp_pt/002-4443697-6472033#reader-link| pages=26-33}}</ref>


Turner attended ] and was vice-president of the ] and captain of the sailing team. He became a member of ]. Turner initially majored in ]. His father wrote saying that this choice made him "appalled, even horrified", and that he "almost puked".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.lettersofnote.com/2012/07/this-is-my-son-he-speaks-greek.html|title=This is my son. He speaks Greek|publisher=Lettersofnote|date=July 25, 2012|access-date=July 26, 2012|archive-date=July 27, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120727162316/http://www.lettersofnote.com/2012/07/this-is-my-son-he-speaks-greek.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> Turner later changed his major to ], but before receiving a degree, he was ] for having a female student in his dormitory room.<ref>{{cite book| title=Ted Turner: It Ain't As Easy as It Looks: The Amazing Story of CNN| author=Porter Bibb| publisher=Virgin Books| year=1996| isbn=0-86369-892-1| url=https://www.amazon.com/gp/reader/155566203X| pages=26–33}}</ref> Turner was awarded an honorary B.A. from Brown University in November 1989 when he returned to campus to give the keynote address for the ] second annual conference.
=== Sailing ===
Ted Turner began sailing when he was nine years old. He entered competition when he was eleven in the junior program at the ], and went on to compete in the Olympic trials in 1964.


Expelled from Brown just as tensions in ] were beginning to heat up, Turner joined the ] in order to fill his service obligation before he ended up getting ]. Honored by the ] with its ] in 2013, Turner told ''The Washington Post'', "I liked boats", and ended up getting "deployed to some pretty sweet places&nbsp;– Charleston and Fort Lauderdale."<ref name="USCG">{{cite news |title=Ted Turner, swaggering billionaire humbled by 'Lone Sailor' prize for long-ago Coast Guard stint |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/reliable-source/wp/2013/09/19/ted-turner-billionaire-humbled-by-lone-sailor-prize-for-long-ago-coast-guard-stint/ |newspaper=] |date=19 September 2013}}</ref>
Turner is highly honored among yachtsmen as the winner of at least two great races.
In 1977, he successfully defended the ] for the ] as skipper of the yacht '']''.
In the ], made famous by the terrible storm and the resulting loss of life, he skippered the yacht ''Tenacious'' to a corrected-time victory.


=== Business activities === == Business career ==
====WTBS==== === WTBS ===
After leaving Brown University, Turner returned to the South in late 1960 to become general manager of the ], branch of his father's business. Following his father's suicide in March 1963, Turner became president and chief executive of Turner Advertising Company when he was 24 and turned the firm into a global enterprise. He joined the ], saying he "felt at ease among these budding conservatives and was merely following in 's far-right footsteps", according to ''It Ain't as Easy as It Looks''.<ref name=bibb5556 />
Turner inherited a small outdoor advertising business from his father when he was 24.<ref name=bibb5556/> Turning it around, he used the firm to acquire a small local broadcast station in Atlanta, later becoming WTBS. He recognized early the potential of new communications satellites to make his small market station available nationwide. Thus, as cable systems were developed across the nation, many carried his Atlanta station free to fill out their offerings. This increased his viewership and advertising revenues.
He purchased the ] and ] in 1976 partially to provide sports programming for his TV station, and similarly created the ] in 1986. His relationship with the Braves was somewhat peculiar before the team's success in the 1990s; Turner was one of the more hands-on owners in ] history, at one point going as far as to give the team's regular manager the day off so Turner could manage. About this experience, he famously said, "Managing isn't that difficult, you just have to score more runs than the other guy". Among other things, Turner suggested the nickname "Channel" for pitcher ] and jersey number 17, in order to promote the television station that aired Braves games. Major League Baseball quickly nixed the idea. ], which was first used for the ] as ] and then converted into a baseball-only facility for the Braves shortly thereafter, is named after him.


During the ] era, Turner's business prospered; it had "virtual monopolies in Savannah, Macon, ], and ]" and was the "largest outdoor advertising company in the Southeast", according to ''It Ain't as Easy as It Looks''. The book observed that Turner "discovered his father had sheltered a substantial amount of taxable income over the years by personally lending it back to the company" and "discovered that the billboard business could be a gold mine, a tax-depreciable revenue stream that threw off enormous amounts of cash with almost no capital investment".<ref>{{cite book |last=Bibb |first=Porter |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BaWaAAAAIAAJ&q=%22discovered+his+father%22 |title=It Ain't as Easy as it Looks: Ted Turner's Amazing Story |date=1993 |publisher=Crown Publishers |isbn=978-0-517-59322-6 |page=52}}</ref>
====CNN====
Turner created ] in 1980 as another cable channel. He figured that many like him got home too late to watch the network news at 6:30 PM. CNN was instrumental in creating the modern "all news, all the time" television format. In a typical bit of bravado, Turner vowed upon launching CNN that, "We won't be signing off until the world ends. We'll be on, and we will cover the end of the world, live, and that will be our last event. . . . and when the end of the world comes, we'll play 'Nearer My God to Thee' before we sign off."


In the late 1960s Turner began buying several Southern radio stations.<ref>{{cite book |last=O'Connor |first=Michael |title=Ted Turner: A Biography |publisher=ABC-CLIO |year=2009 |chapter=5 |isbn=978-0-313-35043-6}}</ref> In 1969, he sold his radio stations to buy a struggling television station in Atlanta, ] Channel 17 ] (now WPCH).<ref>{{cite magazine |title=Merger is proposed by Rice, Turner |periodical=Broadcasting |publisher=Broadcasting Publications, Inc. |date=July 14, 1969}}</ref> At the time, UHF stations did well only in markets without ] stations, like ], or in markets with only one station on VHF. Independent UHF stations were not ratings winners or that profitable even in larger markets, but Turner concluded that this would change as people wanted more than several choices. He changed the ] to WTCG, erroneously claimed to have stood for "<u>W</u>atch <u>T</u>his <u>C</u>hannel <u>G</u>row" but in actuality stood for <u>T</u>urner <u>C</u>ommunications <u>G</u>roup.<ref>{{cite magazine |title=For the Record |periodical=Broadcasting |publisher=Broadcasting Publications, Inc. |date=April 13, 1970}}</ref> Initially, the station ran old movies from prior decades, along with theatrical cartoons and bygone sitcoms and drama programs. As a better syndicated product fell off the VHF stations, Turner would acquire it for his station at a very low price. WTCG ran mostly second- and even third-hand programming of the time, including fare such as '']'', '']'', '']'', '']'', and '']''. Other low-cost content included humorist ] reading the news at 3 a.m., prompting Turner to jokingly comment that, "we have a 100% share at this time". Tush once delivered the news with his "]" Rex, a ]. The dog (who belonged to an associate) was shown next to Tush on set, wearing a shirt and tie while eating a peanut butter sandwich. Rex appeared only on one episode, but a myth grew where many people thought the dog was a nightly guest.<ref name=Saporta>{{cite web |url=https://saportareport.com/bill-tushs-30-year-tv-career-began-the-lucky-moment-he-stopped-by-channel-17-for-a-job/archived-columnists/chris-schroder/adminmegan/ |title=Bill Tush's 30-year TV career began the lucky moment he stopped by Channel 17 for a job |date=May 21, 2012 |website=Saporta Report |publisher=saportareport.com |access-date=August 19, 2021}}</ref> By 1972, WTCG had acquired the rights to telecast ] and ] games.<ref>{{cite magazine |title=Program Briefs: Hawks roost beside Braves |periodical=Broadcasting |publisher=Broadcasting Publications, Inc. |date=October 16, 1972}}</ref> Turner would go on to purchase UHF Channel 36 ] (now WCNC) in ], and ran it with a format similar to WTCG.{{citation needed|date=October 2022}}
After five years on the air, CNN found themselves outgrowing their original home, a former country-club on the outskirts of Midtown Atlanta. Ever the visionary, Turner saw another opportunity. He purchased the ] from developer Tom Cousins and moved CNN there. The complex was rechristened the ].
As the Omni International, the office/retail/movie theater/hotel complex had never succeeded. Through some clever financial maneuvering, Cousins had managed to keep it solvent, then sold it to Turner along with the ]. CNN then moved into the end of the tower that once housed ]. Having the presence of Turner gave the Omni a focus that it had never enjoyed before, and it was instrumental in the revival of Atlanta's Downtown area.


]
In 1984, Turner launched ], his competition to MTV. The channel was short-lived, but helped mold and launch the original (but now changed) format of ].
In 1976, the ] allowed WTCG to use a satellite to transmit content to local cable TV providers around the nation. On December 17, 1976, the rechristened WTCG-TV Super-Station began to broadcast old movies, ] reruns, cartoons, and sports nationwide to cable-TV subscribers.<ref>"Ted Turner." ''Encyclopedia of World Biography'', 2nd ed., vol. 15, Gale, 2004, pp. 355–357.</ref> As cable systems developed, many carried his station to free their schedules, which increased his viewers and advertising. The number of subscribers eventually reached 2 million and Turner's net worth rose to $100 million. He bought a {{convert|5000|acre|ha|adj=on}} plantation in Jacksonboro, South Carolina, for $2 million.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Endicott|first=Eve|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rFDTnLS_KCwC&q=ted+turner+5000+acre+plantation&pg=PA96|title=Land Conservation Through Public/Private Partnerships|date=1993|publisher=Island Press|isbn=978-1-61091-349-2|language=en}}</ref>
====MGM/UA====
After a failed attempt to acquire ], Ted Turner purchased the legendary but struggling Hollywood film studio ]/] Entertainment Co. from ] in 1986 for $1.5 Billion.


In 1976, Turner bought the Atlanta Braves, and in 1977, he bought the Atlanta Hawks, partially to provide programming for WTCG.<ref>{{cite news|title=Yachtsman Turner Purchases Braves|work=]|date=January 7, 1976}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nba.com/hawks/news/hawks-raise-banner-honor-turner|title=Hawks Raise Banner To Honor Turner|first=Micah|last=Hart|date=November 30, 2004|work=]|access-date=September 7, 2020}}</ref> Using the rechristened WTBS superstation's status to broadcast Braves games into nearly every home in North America, Turner turned the Braves into a household name even before their run of success in the 1990s and early 2000s.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://bleacherreport.com/articles/309493-call-me-the-owner-why-the-braves-need-ted-turner-back|title=Call Me Owner: Why the Braves Need Ted Turner Back|first=Jordan|last=Bagbey|website=]|date=December 16, 2009|access-date=September 7, 2020}}</ref> At one point, he suggested to pitcher ], who wore number 17, that he change his surname to "Channel" to promote the television station.<ref>{{Cite news| url = http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20080320&content_id=2446061&vkey=news_atl&fext=.jsp&c_id=atl|title= Messersmith: The game's first free agent|author=Gary Caruso |work=] |date =March 20, 2008}}</ref>
Following the acquisition, Ted Turner assumed an enormous debt and had no other choice but to sell parts of the acquisition. MGM/UA Entertainment Co. was sold back to Kirk Kerkorian. The MGM/UA Studio lot in Culver City was sold to Lorimar/Telepictures. Turner kept MGM/UA's pre-1986 and pre-merger film and TV library, which included nearly all of MGM/UA's material made before the merger, and a small portion of ]'s film and TV properties (which included very few UA pictures, the TV series '']'', the ] library, and the pre-1948 Warner Bros. library that was once the property of ], UA Television's predecessor company).
====TNT====
Turner used these assets to begin adding new cable channels. In 1988, he introduced ] (abbreviated TNT) with a broadcast of '']''. TNT was, at least initially, a vehicle for older movies and television shows, but slowly began to add original programming and newer reruns. Since its launch in 1994, ] adopted the role of broadcasting the older Warner Bros., RKO, and MGM libraries. As with the original TBS, TNT used sports broadcasts and pro wrestling organisation ] (WCW) to attract a broader audience; in the former case, signing contracts with ] and the ].


In 1978, Turner struck a deal with a student-operated radio station at ], ] (now WMBR), to obtain the rights to the WTBS call sign for $50,000. Such a move allowed Turner to strengthen the branding of his "Super-Station" using the initials TBS. Turner Communications Group was renamed ] and WTCG was renamed ].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://archive.boston.com/ae/music/articles/2011/04/08/wmbr_fm_celebrates_50_years_on_the_air/|title=Tune in, turn on...|first=Jonathan|last=Perry|date=April 8, 2011|website=]|access-date=September 7, 2020}}</ref>
In 1992, the MGM library, which as noted above included a number of Warner Brothers properties, including the ] and ] libraries became the core of ]. Turner's companies had also purchased ] by this time, adding additional content. With the 1996 ] merger, the channel's archives gained the post-1948 ] cartoon library, thus giving the channel's archive a staggering amount of cartoons.


In 1986, Turner founded the ] with the goal of easing tensions between capitalist and communist countries. Broadcasting the events of these games also provided his superstation the ability to provide Olympic-style sports programming.<ref>Burton, Paul. "Turner, Ted." ''Notable Sports Figures'', edited by Dana R. Barnes, vol. 4, Gale, 2004, pp. 1651–1653.</ref>
In the mid-1980s, Turner became a driving force for the ] of black and white films. In 1985, the film '']'' became the first black and white movie to be redistributed in color, thanks to computer colorization. Despite widespread opposition to the practice by many film aficionados, stars and directors, the movie won over a sizeable section of the public on its re-release , and Turner would soon colorize a majority of films that he had owned. However, in the mid-1990s, the high cost of the process led Turner to abandon the idea of colorizing films. In contrast with TNT, TCM has shown the unaltered versions of films.
====Turner Entertainment====
] was established in August 1986 to oversee the entire film properties owned by Ted Turner.


], first used for the ] as ] and then converted into a baseball-only facility for the Braves, was named after him.<ref>{{cite web | title=Centennial Olympic Stadium | access-date=September 11, 2024 | date=January 3, 2024 | url=https://olympics.com/ioc/news/centennial-olympic-stadium | work=olympics.com | quote=Renamed Turner Field – after Ted Turner, the founder of Cable News Network (CNN) whose global headquarters are in the city – the stadium has hosted Major League Baseball (MLB) for almost 20 years. }}</ref>
In 1988, Turner purchased ] which he soon renamed ] (WCW) which would grow to become the main competitor to ]'s ] (WWF). In 2001, under ] control, it was sold to ] (formerly the WWF). It has been stated that Ted Turner has always had a special place in his heart for professional wrestling.


=== CNN ===
In 1989, Ted Turner created the ] to be awarded to a work of fiction offering positive solutions to global problems. The winner, chosen from 2500 entries worldwide, was ]'s '']''.
]
====Turner Foundation====
In 1978, he contacted media executive ] with his plans to launch a 24-hour news channel (Schonfeld had previously approached Turner with the same proposition in 1977 but was rebuffed).<ref name=Barkin>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yIJ80AkyQdsC&q=kellner&pg=PA1|first=Steve M.|last=Barkin|title=American Television News: The Media Marketplace and the Public Interest: The Media Marketplace and the Public Interest|publisher=Taylor & Francis|date= 2016|isbn=9781315290911}}</ref> Schonfeld responded that it could be done with a staff of 300 if they used an all electronic newsroom and satellites for all transmissions.<ref name=Barkin /> It would require an initial investment of $15 million–$20 million and several million dollars per month to operate.<ref name=Barkin />
In 1990, he created the ], which focuses on philanthropic grants in the areas of the environment and population. Also in that year, he created the character ], an environmental ]. Turner produced two TV series with him as the featured character.


In 1979, Turner sold his North Carolina station, ], to fund the transaction and established its headquarters in lower-cost, non-union ].<ref name=Barkin /> Schonfeld was appointed first president and chief executive of the then-named ] (CNN).<ref name=Barkin /> CNN hired Jim Kitchell, former general manager of news at ] as vice president of production and operations; ] as vice president of news and executive producer; ] as head of sports, Ted Kavanau as director of personnel, and ] as vice president of the network.<ref name=Barkin /> In 1982, Schonfeld was succeeded as CEO by Turner after a dispute over Schonfeld's firing of ]; and was succeeded as president by CNN's executive vice president, ].<ref name=wp>{{cite news |first=Lauren|last=Wiseman|title=Burt Reinhardt dies at 91: Newsman helped launch CNN |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/burt-reinhardt-dies-at-91-newsman-helped-launch-cnn/2011/04/14/AFMd9mkG_story.html |newspaper=] |date=May 10, 2011 |access-date=May 19, 2011}}</ref>
In 1993, Turner appeared in the epic ], which he produced, as ] ], a role he reprised in the 2003 prequel '']'', also produced by Turner.


==== Time Warner merger ==== ==== Turner Doomsday Video ====
{{Main|Turner Doomsday Video}}
On ], ], ] announced plans to merge with ] The merger was completed on ], ], with Turner as ] and head of Time Warner's cable networks division. On ], ], ] announced plans to merge with ] as ]. This merger closed ], ]. The company has since dropped "AOL" from its corporate name.
Turner famously stated before CNN debuted: "We won't be signing off until the world ends. We'll be on, and we will cover the end of the world, live, and that will be our last event... we'll play the National Anthem only one time, on the 1st of June , and when the end of the world comes, we'll play ']' before we sign off." Reportedly, Turner plans to make good on that promise. He commissioned a video recording of a military marching band playing the hymn. Turner has sometimes played the tape for reporters, noting the reason he made it. In 2015, the video was found in CNN's database and leaked. The video was tagged in the database as " till end of world confirmed".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.avclub.com/cnn-s-doomsday-video-leaks-to-the-internet-1798275220|title=CNN's doomsday video leaks to the Internet|website=News|date=January 5, 2015|language=en-us|access-date=February 15, 2020|archive-date=February 15, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200215184548/https://news.avclub.com/cnn-s-doomsday-video-leaks-to-the-internet-1798275220|url-status=live}}</ref>


=== Other ventures ===
Turner was vice chairman and Time Warner's biggest stock holder. Turner was to endorse the disasterous merger with ]. It is estimated he lost as much as $8 billion when the stock collapsed in the wake of the merger. He stepped down as vice chairman in 2006. When questions have been put to him about buying back his former assets, he always replied that he can't afford them now.<ref></ref>
{{Professional wrestling sidebar}}
In 1981, Turner Broadcasting System acquired ] from ]<ref>{{cite news|title=Faberge Sells Brut's Assets|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1982/01/01/business/faberge-sells-brut-s-assets.html|website=]|date=January 1982 |access-date=November 27, 2014}}</ref>


After a failed attempt to acquire ], Turner purchased the film studio ]/] Entertainment Co. from ] in 1986 for $1.5 billion.<ref name=MGM>{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1985/08/08/business/turner-acquiring-mgm-movie-empire.html|title=Turner Acquiring MGM Movie Empire |first=Geraldine|last=Fabrikant|work=]|date=August 8, 1985|access-date=September 7, 2020}}</ref> Following the acquisition, Turner had amassed enormous debt and sold parts of the acquisition; Kerkorian bought back MGM/UA Entertainment. The MGM/UA Studio lot in ] was sold to ]/]. Turner kept MGM's pre-May 1986 and pre-merger film and television library.<ref name="ymrt">''You Must Remember This: The Warner Bros. Story,'' (2008) p. 255.</ref><ref>{{cite news|work=]|url=https://www.orlandosentinel.com/1986/08/27/turner-united-artists-close-deal/|title=Turner, United Artists Close Deal |publisher=]|date=August 27, 1986|access-date=September 7, 2020|archive-date=September 21, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130921055612/http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/1986-08-27/business/0250090069_1_united-artists-turner-mgm|url-status=live}}</ref>
=== Personal life ===
Ted had been married twice before marrying and divorcing ] (1991 to 2001). His first marriage to Judy Nye lasted four years (1960 to 1964). His second marriage was to Jane Shirley Smith and lasted over 22 years (1965 to 1988). He has five children.{{Fact|date=September 2007}}


] was established in August 1986 to oversee film and television properties owned by Turner thanks to the deal with Kerkorian.{{citation needed|date=October 2022}}
Turner is reportedly involved with several women, including the novelist and playwright Elizabeth Dewberry.


Having now acquired MGM's library of 2,200 films made before 1986, Turner had them syndicated on his nationwide television stations.<ref name=MGM /> When broadcasting their older films, he aired ] versions of ones originally shot in black-and-white.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1986-10-23-ca-6941-story.html|title=Turner Defends Move to Colorize Films |first=John|last=Voland|date=October 23, 1986|work=]|access-date=September 7, 2020}}</ref> Opposition arose from cinephiles, actors, and directors to Turner's colorization efforts. Film critic ] wrote on Turner's broadcasting of a colorized '']'', "that will be one of the saddest days in the history of the movies. It is sad because it demonstrates that there is no movie that Turner will spare, no classic however great that is safe from the vulgarity of his computerized graffiti gangs."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.rogerebert.com/interviews/casablanca-gets-colorized-but-dont-play-it-again-ted|title='Casablanca' gets colorized, but don't play it again, Ted|first=Roger|last=Ebert|website=]|date=October 30, 1988|access-date=September 7, 2020}}</ref> Thanks in part to Turner's colorization, the ] established the ] with the aim to preserve American films in their original format.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2019/12/national-film-registry-spike-lee-claudia-weill|title=Spike Lee Gets His Fourth Film on the National Film Registry: 'Sometimes Dreams Come True'|first=Donald|last=Liebenson|website=]|date=December 11, 2019|access-date=September 7, 2020}}</ref>
=== Recent years ===
Through ], he owns 15 ranches in ], ], ], ], ] and ]. Totaling 1.91 million acres his US land-holdings make Turner the largest individual landowner in North America. According to his website, ''"Turner Enterprises' mission is to manage Turner lands in an economically sustainable and ecologically sensitive manner, while conserving native species."''


In 1988, Turner purchased ] which he renamed ] (WCW) which became the main competitor to ]'s ] (WWF). This rivalry became known as the ], and would last throughout the 1990s. In 2001, under ], WCW was ].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://bleacherreport.com/articles/632761-wcw-how-it-died-and-how-wwe-and-vince-mcmahon-made-sure-it-never-rose-again|title=WCW: How It Died, and How WWE and Vince McMahon Made Sure It Never Rose Again|first=Joe|last=Burgett|website=]|date=March 11, 2011|access-date=September 7, 2020}}</ref>
Turner's biggest ranch the ] at 920 square miles is the largest privately owned, contiguous tract of land in the ].<ref></ref>


Also in 1988, Turner introduced ] (TNT) with ''].'' TNT, initially showing older movies and television shows, added original programs and newer reruns. Turner would later create ] (TCM) in 1994, airing Turner's pre-1986 MGM library of films alongside those of ] made before 1950, though it has expanded its library since.{{citation needed|date=October 2022}}


In 1989, Turner created the ] for fiction offering positive solutions to global problems. The winner, from 2500 entries worldwide, was ]'s ''].''{{citation needed|date=October 2022}}
Ted Turner sponsors the debates known as the ] of the ]. Every year, he attends the National Forensic League's ] and speaks there as well.


{{external media
On ], ] Turner in a ] Newsmaker conference posited a hypothetical situation, relating to Iran's nuclear position, wherein he stated, "They're a sovereign state. We have 28,000. Why can't they have 10? We don't say anything about Israel—they've got 100 of them approximately—or India or Pakistan or Russia." He also facetiously advocated such policies as banning men from public office, "Men should be barred from public office for 100 years in every part of the world...The men have had millions of years where we've been running things. We've screwed it up hopelessly. Let's give it to the women."<ref>, ], ].</ref>
| float = right
| width = 270px
| video1 = – a 2019 documentary hosted by Dr. Sanjay Gupta highlighting the personal life, career, and the environmental work of Ted Turner (CNN Philippines, full episode)}}
In 1990, he created the Turner Foundation, which focuses on philanthropic grants concerning issues pertaining to the environment and overpopulation. In the same year he created ], an environmental ]. Turner produced the television series '']'' and its later sequel series with Captain Planet as the featured character.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.cnn.com/2019/09/27/world/ted-turner-captain-planet-intl/index.html|title=Is Ted Turner the real Captain Planet?|first1=Mark|last1=Tutton|first2=Holly|last2=Brown|first3=Samantha|last3=Bresnahan|website=]|date=November 29, 2019|access-date=September 7, 2020}}</ref>


In 1992, the pre-May 1986 MGM library, which also included Warner Bros. properties including the early '']'' and '']'' libraries and also the Fleischer Studios and Famous Studios ''Popeye'' cartoons from Paramount (and then United Artists), became the core of ]. A year before, Turner's companies purchased ] Productions (whose longtime parent, ], had been headquartered in Turner's original hometown of Cincinnati), beating out several other bidders including ] (whose subsidiaries included ] and ]) and ]. With the 1996 Time Warner merger, the channel's archives gained the later Warner Bros. cartoon library as well as other Time Warner-owned cartoons.{{citation needed|date=October 2022}}
== Achievements ==
In 1991, Turner became the first media figure to be named ] magazine's ].


In 1993, Turner and Russian journalist Eduard Sagalajev founded the Moscow Independent Broadcasting Corporation (MIBC). This corporation operated the sixth frequency in Russian television and founded the Russian channel ].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1992/12/30/business/turner-channel-for-moscow.html|title=Turner Channel for Moscow|author=]|work=]|date=December 30, 1992|access-date=September 7, 2020}}</ref> The company was later purchased by Russian businessman ] and an unknown group of private persons. In 2007 the license for TV-6 had expired and there was no application for renewal.{{citation needed|date=October 2022}}
He is America's largest private ], owning approximately two million acres (8,000 km²), which is greater than the land areas of the two smallest states of ] and ] combined. According to ]maker ], Turner's land has a higher ] than the country of ]. He also has the largest private ] herd in the world, with 40,000 head. In 2002, Turner co-founded ], a ] chain specializing in ]s and other entrees made from fresh bison meat.


=== Time Warner merger ===
Under his ownership, ] became the only federation in history to outrate and outsell the ] family and their ]. This event brought about a rise in popularity to professional wrestling and is now known as the ]. WCW television ratings were also heavily competing with ABC's Monday Night Football.
]
Turner Broadcasting System merged with Time Warner Entertainment on October 10, 1996, with Turner as ] and head of Time Warner Entertainment and Turner's cable networks division.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/1995/09/23/MN70161.DTL|last=Pelline|first=Jeff|date=September 23, 1995|title=Time Warner Closes Deal for Turner|newspaper=San Francisco Chronicle}}</ref> Turner was dropped as head of cable networks by CEO ] but remained as Vice Chairman of Time Warner Entertainment. He would be succeeded in March 2001 as head of Turner Broadcasting by ], who was also greatly responsible for cancelling ]'s television contracts on networks which Turner previously ran.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB983920915516944115|title=WB Network Chief Kellner Takes Over Turner Operations at AOL Time Warner|first1=Joe|last1=Flint|first2=Sally|last2=Beatty|publisher=Wall Street Journalism|date=March 7, 2001|accessdate=June 22, 2024}}</ref><ref name=tedturnersuccessor>{{Cite news |last=Schneider |first=Michael |date=2024-06-22 |title=Jamie Kellner, TV Maverick Who Launched Both Fox and The WB, Dies at 77 |url=https://variety.com/2024/tv/news/jamie-kellner-dies-dead-fox-the-wb-obituary-1236044943/ |access-date=2024-06-22 |work=Variety |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.fightful.com/wrestling/former-head-turner-broadcasting-jamie-kellner-passes-away|title=Former Head of Turner Broadcasting Jamie Kellner Passes Away|first=Jeremy|last=Lambert|publisher=Fightful|date=June 22, 2024|accessdate=June 22, 2024}}</ref> He resigned as AOL Time Warner vice chairman in 2003 and then from the Time Warner board of directors in 2006.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2003-jan-30-fi-turner30-story.html|title=Ted Turner to Resign AOL Post|first=Sallie|last=Hofmeister|work=]|date=January 30, 2003|access-date=September 7, 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/25/business/ted-turner-leaving-time-warners-board.html|title=Ted Turner Leaving Time Warner's Board|author=]|work=]|date=February 25, 2006|access-date=September 7, 2020}}</ref>


On January 11, 2001, Time Warner Entertainment was purchased by ] (AOL) to become AOL Time Warner,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://news.cnet.com/2100-1023-250781.html |title=AOL, Time Warner complete merger with FCC blessing |work=CNET |first1=Patrick |last1=Ross |first2=Evan |last2=Hansen |date=January 11, 2001 |access-date=June 2, 2012}}</ref> a merger which Turner initially supported.<ref name=NewYorker2001>{{cite magazine |url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2001/04/23/the-lost-tycoon |title=The Lost Tycoon |first=Ken |last=Auletta |magazine=] |date=April 23, 2001 |access-date=June 24, 2018}}</ref> However, the burst of the ] hurt the growth and profitability of the AOL division, which in turn dragged down AOL Time Warner's performance and stock price. At a board meeting in fall 2001, Turner's outburst against AOL Time Warner CEO ] eventually led to Levin's announced resignation effective in early 2002, being replaced by ].<ref name=NinaMunk>{{cite web |url=http://www.ninamunk.com/PowerFailure.php |title=Power Failure |first=Nina |last=Munk |work=] |date=July 2002 |access-date=June 26, 2018 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110714183334/http://www.ninamunk.com/documents/PowerFailure.htm |archive-date=July 14, 2011 }}</ref> In contrast to Levin, who as CEO isolated Turner from important company matters, Parsons invited Turner back to provide strategic advice, although Turner never received an operational role that he sought.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2001/12/16/business/at-63-ted-turner-may-yet-roar-again.html|title=At 63, Ted Turner May Yet Roar Again|first1=Jim|last1=Rutenberg|first2=Alessandra|last2=Stanley|work=]|date=December 16, 2001|access-date=September 7, 2020}}</ref> Time Warner dropped "AOL" from its name in October 2003. In December 2009, AOL was spun off from the Time Warner conglomerate as a separate company.{{citation needed|date=October 2022}}
After the ], Turner founded the ] as a statement for peace through sport.


Turner was Time Warner's biggest individual shareholder.<ref name=NinaMunk/> It is estimated he lost as much as $7 billion when the stock collapsed in the wake of the merger.<ref name=Turner2008>{{cite web |url=http://www.portfolio.com/views/blogs/mixed-media/2008/11/11/ted-turner-goes-to-town-on-time-warner |title=Ted Turner Goes to Town on Time Warner |first=Jeff |last=Bercovici |work=] |date=November 11, 2008 |access-date=June 23, 2018 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081113003314/http://www.portfolio.com/views/blogs/mixed-media/2008/11/11/ted-turner-goes-to-town-on-time-warner |archive-date=November 13, 2008}}</ref> When asked about buying back his former assets, he replied that he "can't afford them now".<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/02/24/AR2006022401888.html |title=Turner To Leave Time Warner |newspaper=] |date=February 25, 2006 |access-date=March 24, 2010 |first=Steven |last=Levingston}}</ref> In June 2014, ]'s ] made a bid for the company valuing it at $80 billion. The Time Warner board rejected the offer and it was formally withdrawn on August 5, 2014.<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Frizell |first=Sam |date=August 5, 2014 |title=21st Century Fox Withdraws Time Warner Takeover Bid |url=https://time.com/3083321/21st-century-fox-time-warner/ |access-date=February 25, 2024 |magazine=Time}}</ref>
In 1998, Turner pledged to donate $1 billion of his then $3 billion net worth to ] causes, and created the ] to administer the gift. The Foundation "builds and implements public-private partnerships to address the world’s most pressing problems, and broadens support for the UN through advocacy and public outreach." In 2006, the Foundation delivered its billionth dollar to United Nations causes—approximately $600M of which came from Turner, and $400M of which came from public and private sector partners. Turner has pledged to use the remaining $400 million dollars from his commitment to leverage additional funds for UN causes and activities.


=== Rivalry with Murdoch ===
Turner served in the ]. He is also a recipient of the ].
Turner had a long-running feud with fellow cable magnate Rupert Murdoch for years. This originated in 1983 when a Murdoch-sponsored yacht collided with the yacht skippered by Turner, '']'', during the ], causing it to run aground {{convert|6.2|mi|km}} from the finish line. At the post-race dinner, a drunken Turner verbally assaulted Murdoch, afterward challenging him to a televised fistfight in ].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2009/12/murdochs_rivalries.html |title=Rupert Murdoch and the Art of War |author=Daily Intelligencer |work=] |date=December 23, 2009 |access-date=September 7, 2020}}</ref>


Murdoch's ], established in 1996, became a rival to Turner's CNN, a channel that Murdoch regarded with disdain for its "liberal slant" in news coverage. Time Warner declined to carry it on their New York City cable network in response, who in the midst of a merger, Turner said would "squash Rupert Murdoch like a bug."<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1996/10/05/nyregion/cable-news-feud-has-personal-and-political-roots.html |title=Cable News Feud Has Personal and Political Roots |first=Mark |last=Landler |work=] |date=October 5, 1996 |access-date=September 7, 2020}}</ref>
== Controversies ==
*Ted Turner has called observers of ] "]s."<ref name=Timeschristians>{{cite news|url=http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D0DEFDA133DF93AA25750C0A9679C8B63|publisher='']''|title=MediaTalk; AOL Sees a Different Side of Time Warner |author=Jim Rutenberg|date=], ]}}</ref> He referred to Christianity as "a religion for losers"<ref name=Timeschristians/> and dubbed abortion opponents "bozos."<ref name=Timeschristians/>


In 2003, Turner challenged Murdoch to another fistfight, and later on accused Murdoch of being a "warmonger" for his support and backing of President ]'s ].<ref name="turnermurdoch">{{cite news |title=Turner: Murdoch is a 'warmonger' |url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2003/apr/25/newscorporation.pressandpublishing |work=] |date=April 23, 2003 |access-date=March 12, 2011 |location=London}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2011/09/ted-turner-wants-rupert-murdoch-step-down/337730/|title=Ted Turner Still Happy to Spar with Rupert Murdoch |first=Adam Clark |last=Estes |work=] |date=September 20, 2011 |access-date=September 7, 2020}}</ref>
*Ted Turner caused a stir in ] in 2003 by providing a significant amount of funding to a project aimed at restoring a ] population to Cherry Creek and Cherry Lake. The controversy stemmed from the use of the poison ] to kill the abundant fish population currently living in the stream. <ref>{{cite news| url=http://bozemandailychronicle.com/articles/2003/08/05/news/003cherryckbzbigs.txt| title=Poisoning begins on Cherry Creek| date=2003-08-05| author=Scott McMillion| work=]}}</ref>


However, revealing in an interview with '']'' in 2019, Turner said he and Murdoch have since made amends.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://variety.com/2019/tv/features/ted-turner-interview-cnn-mgm-1203183345/|title=Ted Turner: The Maverick Mogul Reflects on His Legacy, Big Deals and Old Feuds|first=Cynthia|last=Littleton|work=]|date=April 9, 2019|access-date=September 7, 2020}}</ref>
*Recently, there has been worry that Ted Turner is systematically taking over land surrounding the ].<ref>{{cite news| url=http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=3926185| work=]| publisher=via ]| author=Nate Jenkins| date=2007-11-28| title=Ted Turner's Land Purchases Questioned}}</ref> Ranchers in the area have consistently been outbid by Turner (and his men), and are becoming worried about his intentions with the underground water supply.


== See also == === Atlanta Braves ===
{{Infobox baseball biography
* ]
|name=Ted Turner
|image=
|team=Atlanta Braves
|number=27
|position=]
|birth_date={{birth date and age|1938|11|19}}
|birth_place= ], U.S.
|bats=
|throws=
|debutleague = MLB
|debutdate=May 11
|debutyear=1977
|debutteam=Atlanta Braves
|finalleague = MLB
|finaldate=May 11
|finalyear=1977
|finalteam=Atlanta Braves
|statleague = MLB
|stat1label=Games
|stat1value=1
|stat2label=Win–loss record
|stat2value=0–1
|stat3label=Winning %
|stat3value=.000
|teams=
*] ({{mlby|1977}})
| awards =
}}
For most of his first decade as owner of the Braves, Turner was a very hands-on owner. This peaked in 1977, his second year as owner.{{citation needed|date=October 2022}}


Turner was suspended for one year by ] ] on January 3, 1977, for his actions while pursuing the signing of free agent outfielder ] from the ]. Matthews signed a five-year, $1.875 million contract with the Braves on November 18, 1976. Kuhn's actions stemmed from remarks made by Turner to then-Giants owner ] during the ]. In addition, the Braves were also stripped of their first-round selections in the June 1978 draft of high school and college players.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1977/01/03/archives/kuhn-suspends-turner-braves-owner-for-year-in-matthews-case-turner.html |last=Chass |first=Murray |title=Kuhn Suspends Turner, Braves' Owner, for Year in Matthews Case |work=The New York Times |date=January 3, 1977}}</ref> Turner, however, successfully appealed the suspension and Kuhn relented and reinstated the draft selections, one of which would turn out to be ] from ].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.80sbaseball.com/tag/gary-matthews/ |title=Horner vs. Turner |website=80sbaseball.com |access-date=September 1, 2021 }}</ref>
==References==
{{reflist}}


On May 11, 1977, with the team mired in a 16-game losing streak, Turner sent manager ] on a 10-day "scouting trip" and Turner himself took over as interim manager – the first owner/manager in the majors since ]. He ran the team for one game (a loss to the ])<ref>{{cite web|title=Ted Turner Managerial Record|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/managers/turnete99.shtml|website=Baseball Reference|access-date=May 17, 2019}}</ref> before ] president ] ordered him to stop running the team. Feeney cited major league rules which bar managers and players from owning stock in their clubs. Turner appealed to ] ], and showed up to manage the Braves when they returned home. However, Kuhn turned down the appeal, citing Turner's "lack of familiarity with game operations."<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Hannon |first=Kent |url=http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1092438/index.htm |title=Benched from the Bench |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130615165546/http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1092438/index.htm |archive-date=June 15, 2013 |magazine=] |date=May 23, 1977}}</ref>
== Further reading ==
* ''Racing Edge'' by Ted Turner (Simon & Schuster, 1979) ISBN 0-671-24419-1
* '''Biographies:'''
** ''Media Man: Ted Turner's Improbable Empire'' by Ken Auletta (W. W. Norton, 2004) ISBN 0-393-05168-4
** ''Clash of the Titans: How the Unbridled Ambition of Ted Turner and Rupert Murdoch Has Created Global Empires that Control What We Read and Watch Each Day'' by Richard Hack (New Millennium Press, 2003) ISBN 1-893224-60-0
** ''Me and Ted Against the World: The Unauthorized Story of the Founding of CNN'' by Reese Schonfeld (HarperBusiness, 2001) 0060197463
** ''Ted Turner Speaks: Insights from the World's Greatest Maverick'' by Janet Lowe (Wiley, 1999) ISBN 0-471-34563-6
** ''Riding A White Horse: Ted Turner's Goodwill Games and Other Crusades'' by Althea Carlson (Episcopal Press, 1998) ISBN 0-9663743-0-4
** {{cite book| title=Ted Turner: It Ain't As Easy as It Looks: The Amazing Story of CNN| author=Porter Bibb| publisher=Virgin Books| year=1996| isbn=0-86369-892-1| url=http://www.amazon.com/gp/reader/155566203X/ref=sib_dp_pt/002-4443697-6472033#reader-link}}
** ''Citizen Turner: The Wild Rise of an American Tycoon'' by Robert Goldberg and Gary Jay Goldberg (Harcourt, 1995) ISBN 0-15-118008-3
** ''CNN: The Inside Story : How a Band of Mavericks Changed the Face of Television News'' by Hank Whittemore (Little Brown & Co, 1990) ISBN 0-316-93761-4
** ''Lead Follow or Get Out of the Way: The Story of Ted Turner'' by Christian Williams (Times Books, 1981) ISBN 0-8129-1004-4
** ''Atlanta Rising: The Invention of an International City 1946–1996'' by Frederick Allen (Longstreet Press, 1996) ISBN 1-56352-296-9


In the mid-1980s Turner began leaving day-to-day operations to the baseball operations staff, and the team (still under Turner's ownership) won the ].
==External links==
{{Commonscat|Ted Turner}}
{{wikiquote}}
*
* {{imdb name|0877894|Ted Turner}}
*
*
*


The Atlanta Braves were sold by Time Warner (which had assumed control after the merger with Turner Broadcasting System) to Liberty Media in 2007.<ref>{{cite web|title=Braves sale is approved|url=http://m.mlb.com/news/article/1968024/|website=Major League Baseball|access-date=June 12, 2017|archive-date=August 18, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170818173225/http://m.mlb.com/news/article/1968024//|url-status=dead}}</ref>


== Awards and honors ==
{{start box}}
] given to the Atlanta Braves – owned at the time by Turner – for winning the ] (shown on display at ] – named for Turner – the Braves' home ballpark)]]
{{succession box | title=] | before=] | years=one game in 1977| after= ]}}
''']s'''
{{end box}}
* Lifetime Achievement – Sports (2014)
* Lifetime Achievement – News & Documentary (2015)


'''Sports'''
{{Time Warner}}
* 1995: ] champion (as owner of the ])
{{Atlanta Braves}}
* 1996: ] home ballpark (1996–2016) named ]
{{Time Persons of the Year 1976-2000}}
* 2004: Commemorative banner at ] honoring his tenure as owner of the ]<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://stadiumjourney.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/Retired-Numbers.jpg|title=Atlanta Hawks retired numbers|website=Stadiumjourney.com|access-date=October 21, 2021|archive-date=October 16, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211016120953/http://stadiumjourney.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/Retired-Numbers.jpg|url-status=dead}}</ref>


'''Media'''
{{Persondata
* 1984: Golden Plate Award of the ]<ref>{{cite web|title= Golden Plate Awardees of the American Academy of Achievement |website=Achievement.org|publisher=]|url= https://achievement.org/our-history/golden-plate-awards/#business}}</ref>
|NAME=Turner III, Robert Edward
* 1989: ] Award, ]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.rtdna.org/content/paul_white_award#.U4FBHS8-Ngc |title=Paul White Award |publisher=] |access-date=May 27, 2014 |archive-date=February 25, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130225052416/http://rtdna.org/content/paul_white_award#.U4FBHS8-Ngc |url-status=dead}}</ref>
|ALTERNATIVE NAMES=Ted Turner
* 1990: ].<ref>{{cite web|last1=Arizona State University|title=Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication|url=https://cronkite.asu.edu/about/walter-cronkite-and-asu/walter-cronkite-award|access-date=November 23, 2016|archive-date=March 20, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190320212556/https://cronkite.asu.edu/about/walter-cronkite-and-asu/walter-cronkite-award|url-status=dead}}</ref>
|SHORT DESCRIPTION=American media mogul, philanthropist, founder of TBS and CNN
* 1991: '']'' magazine's ].
|DATE OF BIRTH=] ]
* 1997: ] winner
|PLACE OF BIRTH=]
* 1999: ] for his commitment to innovation throughout his career
|DATE OF DEATH=
* 2000: ]<ref>{{cite web |url=https://murrow.wsu.edu/symposium/the-edward-r-murrow-achievement-award/ |title=The Edward R. Murrow Lifetime Achievement Award {{!}} Murrow Symposium Site {{!}} Washington State University |language=en-US |access-date=May 29, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190503214620/https://murrow.wsu.edu/symposium/the-edward-r-murrow-achievement-award/ |archive-date=May 3, 2019 |url-status=dead}}</ref>
|PLACE OF DEATH=

'''Halls of Fame'''
* 1991: ] inductee
* 2004: Star on the ]

'''Organizational'''
* 1991: Audubon medal from the ]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.audubon.org/audubon-medal-0 |title=Previous Audubon Medal Awardees |work=Audubon |date=January 9, 2015}}</ref>
* 2001: ]
* 2010: Georgia Trustee, an honor given by the ], in conjunction with the Governor of Georgia<ref>{{cite web |url=https://georgiahistory.com/about-ghs/the-georgia-trustees/ |title=The Georgia Trustees: Previous Inductees |work=Georgia Historical Society |date=March 24, 2014 }}</ref>
* 2013: ], which recognizes Navy, Marine and Coast Guard veterans who have distinguished themselves in their civilian careers (Turner is a Coast Guard veteran).<ref>{{cite web|title=Lone Sailor Award Recipients|url=http://www.navymemorial.org/lone-sailor-award-recipients|publisher=]|access-date=July 2, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151016214216/http://www.navymemorial.org/lone-sailor-award-recipients|archive-date=October 16, 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref>

== Politics ==
], in New Delhi, 2005]]
] in December 2015]]
On September 19, 2006, in a Reuters Newsmaker conference, Turner said of Iran's nuclear position: "They're a sovereign state. We have 28,000. Why can't they have 10? We don't say anything about Israel{{nsmdns}}they've got 100 of them approximately{{nsmdns}}or India or Pakistan or Russia."<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.ajc.com/news/local/ted-turner-adopt-china-one-child-policy-save-planet/y7rKRuXh7LrLUc5aMrA95N/|title=Ted Turner: Adopt China's one-child policy to save planet|last=Boone|first=Christian|date=December 8, 2010|work=The Atlanta Journal-Constitution|access-date=March 11, 2019}}</ref>

A proponent of ], Turner has said: "We’re the only first-world country that doesn't have ] and it's a disgrace."<ref name="creativeleadershipsummit.org">" {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160202025536/http://www.creativeleadershipsummit.org/?q=node%2F788%2F |date=February 2, 2016 }}." Global Creative Leadership Summit, September 2009.</ref>

In 2010, during the wake of both the devastating ] and the ] that killed 29 miners in ], Turner stated on CNN that "I'm just wondering if God is telling us he doesn't want to drill offshore. And right before that, we had that coal mine disaster in West Virginia where we lost 29 miners&nbsp;... Maybe the Lord's tired of having the mountains of West Virginia, the tops knocked off of them so they may get more coal. I think maybe we ought to just leave the coal in the ground and go with solar and wind power and geothermals&nbsp;..."<ref>"Stupid Quotes." In ''The Limbaugh Letter.'' July 2010. p. 11.</ref>

Turner endorsed Democratic candidate ] in the run-up for the 2016 U.S. presidential election.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.foxcarolina.com/story/33358570/ted-turner-endorses-hillary-clinton-for-president|title=Ted Turner endorses Hillary Clinton for President|publisher=Fox Carolina|date=October 10, 2016|access-date=January 18, 2019|archive-date=December 9, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171209091526/http://www.foxcarolina.com/story/33358570/ted-turner-endorses-hillary-clinton-for-president|url-status=dead}}</ref> In 2018 he revealed he had once considered a run for president when he was married to ], who told him she would leave him if he did.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://apnews.com/f7b33517be064bb3aa50b47305a93e79/CNN-founder-Turner-says-network-is-too-heavy-on-politics|title=CNN founder Turner says network is too heavy on politics|author=]|publisher=AP News|date=September 28, 2018|access-date=September 7, 2020}}</ref>

===Curbing population growth===

Along with advocating for clean water and improved stewardship of the land, Turner established the Turner Foundation to address ways to curb population growth.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.tedturner.com/foundations/turner-foundation/#:~:text=The%20Turner%20Foundation%20(TFI)%2C,to%20curb%20population%20growth%20rates |title=Turner Foundation |publisher=Turner Enterprises Inc. |access-date=September 1, 2021 }}</ref> Turner has put $125 million of his own money into the foundation and has set aside $6 million per year to address population growth rates. Addressing the issue at a Montana gathering in 1996 he said "I'm not talking about getting rid of anybody here, I've got 5 children myself." He went on to discuss hunger and poverty and ways to address those issues.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.bozemandailychronicle.com/ted-turner-talks-of-overpopulation/article_1043f1be-541e-52eb-8b99-3dadccf02628.html#:~:text=Turner%20said%20he%20also%20put,to%20two%20billion%20or%20less |title=Ted Turner talks of overpopulation |work=Bozeman Daily Chronicle |date=September 18, 1996 |access-date=September 1, 2021 }}</ref>

In 2009 Turner met with other business moguls to include ], ], ] and ] to address issues ranging from the environment to healthcare. The group also addressed population growth with discussion of vaccines and immunization efforts being criticized due to the perception that decision making and public policy could be directed by a handful of elites. Although no formal statement was released, the event was covered by Paul Harris for '']''.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2009/may/31/new-york-billionaire-philanthropists |title=They're called the Good Club – and they want to save the world |work=The Guardian |last=Harris |first=Paul |date=May 31, 2009 |access-date=September 1, 2021 }}</ref>

== Controversial comments ==
] in 1992]]
Turner once called observers of ] "]s", though he apologized,<ref name=Timeschristians>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2001/03/19/business/mediatalk-aol-sees-a-different-side-of-time-warner.html |work=]|title=MediaTalk; AOL Sees a Different Side of Time Warner |author=Jim Rutenberg|date=March 19, 2001}}</ref> and dubbed opponents of ] "]".<ref name=Timeschristians />

In 1999, Turner made a joke about ]s when asked about ]. After a harsh response from the Polish deputy foreign minister ], Turner apologized.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/282851.stm|title=BBC News – Europe – Heard the one about Ted Turner ...|work=bbc.co.uk|access-date=April 12, 2016}}</ref>

In 2002, Turner accused ] of terror: "The ] are fighting with human ], that's all they have. The Israelis ... they've got one of the most powerful military machines in the world. The Palestinians have nothing. So who are the terrorists? I would make a case that both sides are involved in terrorism." He apologized for that and the remarks in 2011 about the ], but also defended himself: "Look, I'm a very good thinker, but I sometimes grab the wrong word ... I mean, I don't type my speeches, then sit up there and read them off the teleprompter, you know. I wing it."<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2002/jun/18/terrorismandthemedia.israel| title=CNN chief accuses Israel of terror| date=June 18, 2002| first1=Oliver |last1=Burkeman |first2=Peter |last2=Beaumont |newspaper=The Guardian |access-date=August 31, 2016}}</ref>

Also in 2008, Turner asserted on ]'s ] television program that if steps are not taken to address ], most people would die and "the rest of us will be ]". Turner also said in the interview that he advocated Americans having no more than two children. In 2010, he stated that China's ] should be implemented.<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.ajc.com/news/local/ted-turner-adopt-china-one-child-policy-save-planet/y7rKRuXh7LrLUc5aMrA95N/| title=Ted Turner: Adopt China's one-child policy to save planet| date=December 8, 2010| first=Christian |last=Boone| work=] |access-date=September 26, 2014}}</ref>

==Turner Enterprises==
]
'''Turner Enterprises, Inc.''' (TEI) is a private American company that was founded in 1976 and manages the business interests, land holdings and investments of Ted Turner,<ref name="auto">{{Cite web|url=https://www.tedturner.com/about/|title=About – Turner Enterprises|website=Tedturner.com|access-date=2020-01-28}}</ref> including the oversight of Turner's 24 properties across the United States and Argentina. At two million acres of personal and ranch land, Turner is the second-largest landowner in North America.<ref name="auto1">{{Cite web|url=https://www.tedturner.com/turner-ranches/turner-ranches-faq/|title=Turner Ranches FAQ – Turner Enterprises|website=Tedturner.com|access-date=2020-01-28}}</ref> He owned 19 ranches – 16 in the western U.S. and three in Argentina.<ref name="auto1"/> In January 2016, the ] bought Turner's 43,000 acre (170&nbsp;km<sup>2</sup>) Bluestem Ranch in ]. Turner had purchased the property in 2001 primarily to raise bison.{{citation needed|date=October 2022}}

Through Turner Enterprises, he owns ranches in ], ], ], ], ], ], and ].<ref name="tturner">{{cite web|author=Tribune staff|year=2009|title=125 Montana Newsmakers: Ted Turner|url=http://www.greatfallstribune.com/multimedia/125newsmakers5/turner.html|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110711123901/http://www.greatfallstribune.com/multimedia/125newsmakers5/turner.html|archive-date=July 11, 2011|access-date=August 28, 2011|work=Great Falls Tribune}}</ref><ref name="enterprises1">{{cite web|title=Ranches|url=http://www.tedturner.com/enterprises/ranches_Template.asp?page=ranches_faq.html|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090430103340/http://www.tedturner.com/enterprises/ranches_Template.asp?page=ranches_faq.html|archive-date=April 30, 2009|access-date=March 29, 2009|publisher=Ted Turner}}</ref> Totaling {{convert|1910585|acre|km2}}, his land-holdings across America make Turner one of the largest individual landowners in North America (by acreage).<ref name="enterprises1" />

TEI ranches are primarily used for bison ranching. His bison herd, approximately 51,000 animals on 15 ranches, is the largest private herd in the world.<ref name="auto1" /> The company's mission statement is "To manage Turner lands in an economically sustainable and ecologically sensitive manner while promoting the conservation of native species."<ref name="auto1" /> Other important wildlife species on the property include whitetail deer, wild turkey and bobwhite quail.<ref name="Morgan">{{cite news|last=Morgan|first=Rhett|date=February 3, 2016|title=Osage Nation set to buy Ted Turner-owned Bluestem Ranch in Osage County|website=Tulsa World|url=http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/state/osage-nation-set-to-buy-ted-turner-owned-bluestem-ranch/article_6be16608-a1e3-502e-a9c7-c77218db023e.html|access-date=April 7, 2017}}</ref> In addition to bison ranching, TEI ranches are also used for commercial fishing and hunting, as well as limited sustainable timber harvesting, as well as eco-tourism on the New Mexico ranches.<ref name="auto1"/> His biggest ranch is ] in New Mexico. At {{convert|920|sqmi|km2}}, it is the largest privately owned, contiguous tract of land in the ].<ref>{{cite web|date=April 14, 2006|title=State, Vermejo Park Ranch Enter Into Agreement Regarding Abandoned Mine Reclamation|url=http://www.allbusiness.com/government/3639644-1.html|publisher=allbusiness}} {{dead link|date=June 2016|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref>

TEI works closely with Turner's philanthropic and charitable interests, including the founding and ongoing operations of the ], ], Turner Foundation,<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.turnerfoundation.org/|title=Turner Foundation|website=Turnerfoundation.org|access-date=October 21, 2021|archive-date=August 17, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200817180322/http://www.turnerfoundation.org/|url-status=dead}}</ref> Planet Foundation],<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://captainplanetfoundation.org/|title=Captain Planet Foundation – Engaging & empowering young people to be problem solvers for the planet|website=Captainplanetfoundation.org|access-date=October 21, 2021}}</ref> and the Turner Endangered Species Fund.<ref name="auto"/> Turner Enterprises is headquartered in the Turner Building (formerly the ]) in ], also home to the ] restaurant chain, Ted Turner Reserves<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://tedturnerreserves.com/|title=Ted Turner Reserves – Luxury Eco-Tourism|website=Tedturnerreserves.com|access-date=October 21, 2021}}</ref> and Turner Renewable Energy.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.tedturner.com/turner-renewable-energy/|title=Turner Renewable Energy – Turner Enterprises|website=Tedturner.com|access-date=October 21, 2021}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.tedturner.com/about/bona-allen-building/|title=Turner Building – Turner Enterprises|website=Tedturner.com|access-date=January 28, 2020}}</ref> In 2011, Ted Turner and TEI completed construction of a 25-panel solar array in the company's parking lot, which provides solar power to the Turner Building and its businesses<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.tedturner.com/turner-renewable-energy/|title=Turner Renewable Energy – Turner Enterprises|website=Tedturner.com|access-date=January 28, 2020}}</ref>

Chaired by Turner, TEI's executive leadership also includes CEO & President S. Taylor Glover.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.tedturner.com/about/company-officers/|title=Executive Leadership – Turner Enterprises|website=Tedturner.com|access-date=January 28, 2020}}</ref>

== Personal life ==
], in Washington, D.C., 2002]]
Turner has been married and divorced three times: to Judy Nye (1960–1964), Jane Shirley Smith (1965–1988), and actress ] (1991–2001). He has five children.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.charlierose.com/shows/2008/04/01/1/a-conversation-with-ted-turner|title=A Conversation With Ted Turner|date=April 1, 2008 |access-date=April 6, 2008|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080405183340/http://www.charlierose.com/shows/2008/04/01/1/a-conversation-with-ted-turner|archive-date=April 5, 2008}}</ref> In a television interview with ] on May 3, 2012, Turner said he had four girlfriends, which he acknowledged was complicated but nonetheless easier than being married.<ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.cnn.com/video/?hpt=hp_bn1#/video/us/2012/05/04/piers-turner-four-girlfriends.cnn | work=CNN | title=CNN.com Video |date=May 4, 2012 |access-date=October 31, 2008}}</ref> One of Turner's children, Robert Edward "Teddy" Turner IV, announced on January 23, 2013, that he intended to run in the ] ] primary for the open Congressional seat vacated by ] who was appointed to the ].<ref>Smith, Bruce. {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131203015631/http://bigstory.ap.org/article/ted-turners-son-vying-sc-congressional-primary |date=December 3, 2013 }}, Associated Press, January 23, 2013.</ref> Turner's son came in 4th, receiving 7.90% of the vote.<ref name="GOP Primary Results">{{cite web |url=http://www.enr-scvotes.org/SC/45550/115634/en/summary.html |title=SC District 01 – Special R Primary |publisher=SC Elections |access-date=October 26, 2017}}</ref>

In 2010, Turner joined ]'s and ]'s ], vowing to donate the majority of his fortune to charity upon his death.<ref>{{cite web|title=Ted Turner's Giving Pledge |url=http://cms.givingpledge.org/Content/uploads/634159149577957850_Turner_063010.pdf |date=June 30, 2010 |publisher=The Giving Pledge |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120523023437/http://cms.givingpledge.org/Content/uploads/634159149577957850_Turner_063010.pdf |archive-date=May 23, 2012 }}</ref>

In the 1993 biography ''It Ain't As Easy as It Looks'' by Porter Bibb, Turner discussed his use of ] and struggles with mental illness. The 1981 biography ''Lead, Follow or Get Out of the Way'' by ] chronicles the founding of CNN.<ref>{{cite magazine|title=The Sure Thing: How entrepreneurs really succeed|url= http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2010/01/18/the-sure-thing |magazine=The New Yorker|access-date=May 10, 2016}}</ref> In 2008, Turner wrote ''],'' which documents his career and personal life.<ref>{{cite news |first=Phil |last=Kloer |title="Call Me Ted" – what else do you call him? |work=Atlanta Journal-Constitution |date=10 November 2008 |access-date=12 November 2008 |url=http://www.accessatlanta.com/blogs/content/shared-blogs/accessatlanta/atlarts/entries/2008/11/10/ted_turners_autobiography_hits.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100101064946/http://www.accessatlanta.com/blogs/content/shared-blogs/accessatlanta/atlarts/entries/2008/11/10/ted_turners_autobiography_hits.html |archive-date=2010-01-01 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

In an interview on '']'' in 2018, Turner revealed his diagnosis of ].<ref>{{cite news |title=Ted Turner reveals he's battling Lewy body dementia in exclusive interview |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/ted-turner-reveals-hes-battling-lewy-body-dementia-in-exclusive-interview/ |access-date=September 29, 2018 |work=CBS News |date=September 28, 2018}}</ref>

== Sailing ==
{{Infobox sailor
| name = Ted Turner
| classes =
| club = {{yachtclub|Savannah Yacht Club}}
| collegeteam = {{collegesailingteam|Brown University}}
| coach =
| medaltemplates =
{{MedalSport | ] }}
{{MedalCountry | {{USA}} }}
{{Medal|Competition|World Championships}}
{{Medal|Gold|1971 Seawanhaka|]}}
{{Medal|Silver|1970 Sydney|]}}
{{Medal|Silver|1972 Geneva|]}}
{{Medal|Silver|1976 Hankø|]}}
}} }}
When Turner was 26, he entered sailing competitions at the ] and competed in Olympic trials in 1964.<ref>{{cite book |last= Haupert|first=Michael John |title=The Entertainment Industry |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=p3tI2cAxj3gC&q=ted+turner+Olympic+trials+in+1964&pg=PA253 |publisher=] |page=253 |isbn=978-1-59884-594-5 |access-date=June 3, 2014 |year=2006 }}</ref> He first attempted to win the ] in ], losing in the defender's trials, aboard ] class yacht US–25 ''Mariner''.<ref name=NBCSN-AC-Courageous>{{cite episode |network= NBC |work= NBC Sports Network |series= 2017 America's Cup |title= Courageous |airdate= June 17, 2017 }}</ref> Turner was defeated by ] aboard US–26 '']''.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Turner, Ted}}]

]
Turner was asked to join the ] defense syndicate formed by Hood and Lee Loomis for the ]. That group still owned the ''Courageous'' but decided to design and construct a new 12 Metre - US–28 ''Independence'' - to defend the 1974 America's Cup victory. However, in the trials, with Turner as ] aboard the 3-year-old ''Courageous'' proved to be the faster than Hood and ''Independence'' <ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1977/06/19/archives/us-yachts-begin-americas-cup-trials.html |title=U.S. Yachts Begin America's Cup Trials |last=Wallace |first=William |work=] |date=June 19, 1977 |access-date=October 1, 2017}}</ref> and was selected to race in the 1977 races.
]

]
From 13 to 18 September 1977 '']'', with Turner in command, defeated the challenger '']'', skippered by ], in a four-race sweep.<ref name="robins">{{cite web|url=http://32nd.americascup.com/en/acclopaedia/circlinggalaxy/profil.php?idContent=4528&idRubr=73 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120707101033/http://32nd.americascup.com/en/acclopaedia/circlinggalaxy/profil.php?idContent=4528&idRubr=73 |url-status=dead |archive-date=7 July 2012 |title=Noel Robins |publisher=ACCyclopedia |accessdate=30 January 2012 }}</ref> ''Courageous''<nowiki>'</nowiki> greatest winning margin out of all four races was 2 minutes and 23 seconds.<ref name="robins"/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://32nd.americascup.com/en/acclopaedia/circlinggalaxy/bateau.php?idContent=4891|title=Courageous – US 26|publisher=americascup.com|access-date=April 27, 2011|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100222021838/http://32nd.americascup.com/en/acclopaedia/circlinggalaxy/bateau.php?idContent=4891&idRubr=74|archive-date=February 22, 2010}}</ref>
]

]
In the ], in a storm that killed 15 participants, he skippered the ]-designed<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://www.sailingworld.com/racing/ted-turner/ |title=Ted Turner, Captain Outrageous |date=April 24, 2002 |magazine=]}}</ref> 61-footer ''Tenacious'' to a corrected-time victory.<ref>{{cite book|last=Rousmainiere|first=John|title=Fastnet, Force 10|year=1980|publisher=Norton|location=New York|isbn=0-393-03256-6|url=https://archive.org/details/fastnetforce1000rous}}</ref>
]
{{clear}}

Turner appeared on the cover of '']'' on July 4, 1977,<ref>{{cite news|url=http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/cover/featured/8544/index.htm |title=Ted Turner on Sports Illustrated cover |date=July 4, 1977 |access-date=April 27, 2011 |work=CNN |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110515120708/http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/cover/featured/8544/index.htm |archive-date=May 15, 2011 }}</ref> after winning 1977 America's Cup.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/packages/html/sports/year_in_sports/09.18.html|title=A Brash Captain Keeps the Cup|date=September 18, 1977|newspaper=The New York Times}}</ref>
Turner was inducted into the ] in 1993,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.herreshoff.org/achof/ted_turner.html |title=Herreshoff Marine Museum & America's Cup Hall of Fame |publisher=Herreshoff.org |access-date=October 10, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120416032023/http://www.herreshoff.org/achof/ted_turner.html |archive-date=April 16, 2012 |url-status=dead }}</ref> and the ] in 2011.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nshof.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=322:turner-ted-2011-inductee&catid=78 |title=Turner, Ted – 2011 Inductee |publisher=Nshof.org |access-date=October 10, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131210004343/http://www.nshof.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=322:turner-ted-2011-inductee&catid=78 |archive-date=December 10, 2013 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

==Legacy==
]
]]]

Turner has been regarded as one of the entrepreneurs who transformed the cable industry and being referred to as "Alexander the Great of broadcasting":<ref name="slate.com">{{cite journal |url=https://slate.com/technology/2010/11/ted-turner-the-alexander-the-great-of-television.html|title=Ted Turner, the Alexander the Great of Television|journal=Slate |date=November 10, 2010|access-date=February 21, 2021 |last1=Wu |first1=Tim }}</ref>

<blockquote>While Turner has been described as a "valiant liberator" and cast the networks as oppressive scoundrels, in content his programming fell short of inspiring. His network was built on sitcom reruns, old movies, cartoons, and Atlanta Braves games. He found an audience for classics of a bygone time, along with slightly down-market content like professional wrestling. Nonetheless, he would find glorious terms even for retreads and junk, claiming to be pulling America back to television's golden age: "I want to get it back to the principles" he once said, "that made us good." Nostalgic, Manichean, and boot-strappy: like programmer, like programming<ref name="slate.com"/></blockquote>

<blockquote>The cable industry boomed in the late 1970s and early 1980s, as nearly a dozen cable networks launched based on the Turner model. They include much of what we now consider the staples of cable TV, including ], ], ], ], ], the ], and the ]. Those are the better-known channels only by virtue of having survived; others, such as ARTS, CBS Cable, and the Satellite News Channel, folded or were acquired by other companies<ref name="slate.com"/></blockquote>

Bob Hope, who is co-owner and president of Hope-Beckham, an independent agency based in Atlanta that previously worked for Turner in his networks, has described that "Ted Turner was special. His vision and his determination and his unwillingness to quit were infectious. He was willing to start small and had the persistence and patience to make his ideas grow".<ref name="bizjournals.com">{{cite web |url=https://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/news/2019/03/06/viewpoint-lets-never-forget-the-legacy-of-ted.html|title=Viewpoint: Let's never forget the legacy of Ted Turner|date=March 6, 2019|access-date=February 21, 2021}}</ref> Hope also further reiterated that "In some ways, he was outrageous, but in most ways he was remarkable. He had great passion for doing what was right for the world. He stated his dream of using communication to bring peace, to tell both sides of any story, that 'one man's terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter.' If he could get people to understand each other, there would be no wars. His vision was bold and infectious. His Goodwill Games, his creation of the ], and his approach to news on the original CNN were passions for peace".<ref name="bizjournals.com"/>

Professional wrestling promoter and former Senior Vice President of ] second in charge after Turner, ] praised Turner claiming "He was an inspirational leader, he was a risk taker, he appreciated people who took risks, he was not afraid of failure while most people are. Ted was not afraid to fail, he was more afraid of not trying and not conquering that next horizon.”<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.wrestlinginc.com/news/2020/09/eric-bischoff-recalls-vince-mcmahon-letters-trying-to-674695/ |title=Eric Bischoff Recalls Vince McMahon's Letters 'Trying to Embarrass' Ted Turner|date=September 12, 2020|access-date=February 25, 2021}}</ref>

On June 24, 1999, ] stated on '']'': "All I'll say about Ted is he's a son-of-a-bitch, other than that, he's probably not a bad guy, but I don't like him at all".<ref>{{cite web |url=https://nypost.com/1999/06/28/mats-entertainment-wrestling-foes-mcmahon-hogan-square-off-in-talk-show-tussle/ |title=MATS ENTERTAINMENT! WRESTLING FOES MCMAHON, HOGAN SQUARE OFF IN TALK-SHOW TUSSLE |date=June 28, 1999|access-date=August 26, 2021}}</ref> Later in 2021, when asked about the upstart ] in comparison to Turner's WCW, McMahon dismissed AEW, stating that "it certainly is not a situation where 'rising tides' because that was when Ted Turner was coming after us with all of Time Warner's assets as well".<ref name="r134">{{Cite web |last=Thakur |first=Sanjay |date=2021-07-30 |title=Vince McMahon Says He Does Not See AEW As The Same Level Of Competition As WCW |url=https://prowrestlingnewshub.com/aew-news/vince-mcmahon-says-he-does-not-see-aew-as-the-same-level-of-competition-as-wcw/ |access-date=2024-11-28 |website=Pro Wrestling News Hub}}</ref>

In 2010 Turner was named a Georgia Trustee, an honor given by the ], in conjunction with the Governor of Georgia, to individuals whose accomplishments and community service reflect the ideals of the founding body of Trustees, which governed the Georgia colony from 1732 to 1752.

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== Further reading ==
* ''Call Me Ted'' by Ted Turner and Bill Burke (Grand Central Publishing, 2008) {{ISBN|978-0-446-58189-9}}
* ''Racing Edge'' by Ted Turner (Simon & Schuster, 1979) {{ISBN|0-671-24419-1}}

=== Biographies ===
{{external media| float = right| video1 = , ]}}
* ''Media Man: Ted Turner's Improbable Empire'' by ] (W. W. Norton, 2004) {{ISBN|0-393-05168-4}}
* ''Clash of the Titans: How the Unbridled Ambition of Ted Turner and Rupert Murdoch Has Created Global Empires that Control What We Read and Watch Each Day'' by Richard Hack (New Millennium Press, 2003) {{ISBN|1-893224-60-0}}
* ''Me and Ted Against the World: The Unauthorized Story of the Founding of CNN'' by Reese Schonfeld (HarperBusiness, 2001) 0060197463
* ''Ted Turner Speaks: Insights from the World's Greatest Maverick'' by Janet Lowe (Wiley, 1999) {{ISBN|0-471-34563-6}}
* ''Riding A White Horse: Ted Turner's Goodwill Games and Other Crusades'' by Althea Carlson (Episcopal Press, 1998) {{ISBN|0-9663743-0-4}}
* {{cite book| title=Ted Turner: It Ain't As Easy as It Looks: The Amazing Story of CNN| author=Porter Bibb| publisher=Virgin Books| year=1996| isbn=0-86369-892-1| url=https://www.amazon.com/gp/reader/155566203X/ref=sib_dp_pt/002-4443697-6472033#reader-link}}
* ''Citizen Turner: The Wild Rise of an American Tycoon'' by Robert Goldberg and ] (], 1995) {{ISBN|0-15-118008-3}}
* ''CNN: The Inside Story: How a Band of Mavericks Changed the Face of Television News'' by Hank Whittemore (Little Brown & Co, 1990) {{ISBN|0-316-93761-4}}
* ''Lead Follow or Get Out of the Way: The Story of Ted Turner'' by Christian Williams (], 1981) {{ISBN|0-8129-1004-4}}
* ''Atlanta Rising: The Invention of an International City 1946–1996'' by Frederick Allen (Longstreet Press, 1996) {{ISBN|1-56352-296-9}}

== External links ==
{{sister project links|auto=1}}
* {{Official website}}
*
* {{New York Times topic}}
* {{C-SPAN}}
* {{IMDb name}}
* {{The Interviews name}}
* {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130901110137/http://www.oprah.com/own-master-class/Oprahs-Master-Class-Ted-Turner |date=September 1, 2013 }}
* {{Baseball-reference manager|turnete99}}
* {{World Sailing|id=USART56|www=robert-turner-iii|name=Robert Turner III}}
* {{professional wrestling profiles}}

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Latest revision as of 19:38, 6 January 2025

American media mogul (born 1938) For other people named Ted Turner, see Ted Turner (disambiguation).

Ted Turner
Turner in 2015
BornRobert Edward Turner III
(1938-11-19) November 19, 1938 (age 86)
Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S.
Alma materBrown University
Occupation(s)Entrepreneur, television producer, media proprietor, philanthropist
Years active1960–present
Known for
Spouses
Julia Gale Nye ​ ​(m. 1960; div. 1964)
Jane Shirley Smith ​ ​(m. 1965; div. 1988)
Jane Fonda ​ ​(m. 1991; div. 2001)
Children5
Websitetedturner.com Edit this at Wikidata
Signature

Robert Edward Turner III (born November 19, 1938) is an American entrepreneur, television producer, media proprietor, and philanthropist. He founded the Cable News Network (CNN), the first 24-hour cable news channel. In addition, he founded WTBS, which pioneered the superstation concept in cable television, as well as television networks TBS and TNT.

As a philanthropist, he gave $1 billion to create the United Nations Foundation, a public charity to broaden U.S. support for the United Nations. Turner serves as Chairman of the United Nations Foundation board of directors. Additionally, in 2001, Turner co-founded the Nuclear Threat Initiative with US Senator Sam Nunn (D-GA). NTI is a non-partisan organization dedicated to reducing global reliance on, and preventing the proliferation of nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons. He currently serves as co-chairman of the board of directors.

Turner's media empire began with his father's billboard business, Turner Outdoor Advertising, which he took over in March 1963 after his father's suicide. It was worth $1 million. His purchase of an Atlanta UHF station in 1970 began the Turner Broadcasting System. In 1980 he founded CNN, now one of the most prominent news networks in the world. Turner turned the Atlanta Braves baseball team into a nationally popular franchise (including winning the 1995 World Series under his ownership), and launched the charitable Goodwill Games. He helped revive interest in professional wrestling by purchasing Jim Crockett Promotions which was then rebranded as World Championship Wrestling (WCW).

Turner's penchant for controversial statements earned him the nicknames "The Mouth of the South" and "Captain Outrageous". Turner has also devoted his assets to environmental causes. He was the largest private landowner in the United States until John C. Malone surpassed him in 2011. He uses much of his land for ranches to re-popularize bison meat (for his Ted's Montana Grill chain) and has amassed the largest herd in the world. He also created the environmental-themed animated series Captain Planet and the Planeteers.

Early life

Turner was born on November 19, 1938, in Cincinnati, Ohio, the son of Florence (née Rooney) and Robert Edward Turner II, a billboard magnate. When he was nine, his family moved to Savannah, Georgia, and raised him as an Episcopalian. He attended The McCallie School, a private boys' preparatory school in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

Turner attended Brown University and was vice-president of the Brown Debating Union and captain of the sailing team. He became a member of Kappa Sigma. Turner initially majored in classics. His father wrote saying that this choice made him "appalled, even horrified", and that he "almost puked". Turner later changed his major to economics, but before receiving a degree, he was expelled for having a female student in his dormitory room. Turner was awarded an honorary B.A. from Brown University in November 1989 when he returned to campus to give the keynote address for the National Association of College Broadcasters second annual conference.

Expelled from Brown just as tensions in Vietnam were beginning to heat up, Turner joined the United States Coast Guard Reserve in order to fill his service obligation before he ended up getting drafted. Honored by the United States Navy Memorial with its Lone Sailor Award in 2013, Turner told The Washington Post, "I liked boats", and ended up getting "deployed to some pretty sweet places – Charleston and Fort Lauderdale."

Business career

WTBS

After leaving Brown University, Turner returned to the South in late 1960 to become general manager of the Macon, Georgia, branch of his father's business. Following his father's suicide in March 1963, Turner became president and chief executive of Turner Advertising Company when he was 24 and turned the firm into a global enterprise. He joined the Young Republicans, saying he "felt at ease among these budding conservatives and was merely following in 's far-right footsteps", according to It Ain't as Easy as It Looks.

During the Vietnam War era, Turner's business prospered; it had "virtual monopolies in Savannah, Macon, Columbus, and Charleston" and was the "largest outdoor advertising company in the Southeast", according to It Ain't as Easy as It Looks. The book observed that Turner "discovered his father had sheltered a substantial amount of taxable income over the years by personally lending it back to the company" and "discovered that the billboard business could be a gold mine, a tax-depreciable revenue stream that threw off enormous amounts of cash with almost no capital investment".

In the late 1960s Turner began buying several Southern radio stations. In 1969, he sold his radio stations to buy a struggling television station in Atlanta, UHF Channel 17 WJRJ (now WPCH). At the time, UHF stations did well only in markets without VHF stations, like Fresno, California, or in markets with only one station on VHF. Independent UHF stations were not ratings winners or that profitable even in larger markets, but Turner concluded that this would change as people wanted more than several choices. He changed the call sign to WTCG, erroneously claimed to have stood for "Watch This Channel Grow" but in actuality stood for Turner Communications Group. Initially, the station ran old movies from prior decades, along with theatrical cartoons and bygone sitcoms and drama programs. As a better syndicated product fell off the VHF stations, Turner would acquire it for his station at a very low price. WTCG ran mostly second- and even third-hand programming of the time, including fare such as Gilligan's Island, I Love Lucy, Star Trek, Hazel, and Bugs Bunny. Other low-cost content included humorist Bill Tush reading the news at 3 a.m., prompting Turner to jokingly comment that, "we have a 100% share at this time". Tush once delivered the news with his "co-anchor" Rex, a German Shepherd. The dog (who belonged to an associate) was shown next to Tush on set, wearing a shirt and tie while eating a peanut butter sandwich. Rex appeared only on one episode, but a myth grew where many people thought the dog was a nightly guest. By 1972, WTCG had acquired the rights to telecast Atlanta Braves and Atlanta Hawks games. Turner would go on to purchase UHF Channel 36 WRET (now WCNC) in Charlotte, North Carolina, and ran it with a format similar to WTCG.

refer to caption
Turner c. 1976

In 1976, the Federal Communications Commission allowed WTCG to use a satellite to transmit content to local cable TV providers around the nation. On December 17, 1976, the rechristened WTCG-TV Super-Station began to broadcast old movies, situation comedy reruns, cartoons, and sports nationwide to cable-TV subscribers. As cable systems developed, many carried his station to free their schedules, which increased his viewers and advertising. The number of subscribers eventually reached 2 million and Turner's net worth rose to $100 million. He bought a 5,000-acre (2,000 ha) plantation in Jacksonboro, South Carolina, for $2 million.

In 1976, Turner bought the Atlanta Braves, and in 1977, he bought the Atlanta Hawks, partially to provide programming for WTCG. Using the rechristened WTBS superstation's status to broadcast Braves games into nearly every home in North America, Turner turned the Braves into a household name even before their run of success in the 1990s and early 2000s. At one point, he suggested to pitcher Andy Messersmith, who wore number 17, that he change his surname to "Channel" to promote the television station.

In 1978, Turner struck a deal with a student-operated radio station at MIT, Technology Broadcasting System (now WMBR), to obtain the rights to the WTBS call sign for $50,000. Such a move allowed Turner to strengthen the branding of his "Super-Station" using the initials TBS. Turner Communications Group was renamed Turner Broadcasting System and WTCG was renamed WTBS.

In 1986, Turner founded the Goodwill Games with the goal of easing tensions between capitalist and communist countries. Broadcasting the events of these games also provided his superstation the ability to provide Olympic-style sports programming.

Turner Field, first used for the 1996 Summer Olympics as Centennial Olympic Stadium and then converted into a baseball-only facility for the Braves, was named after him.

CNN

Turner in 1981

In 1978, he contacted media executive Reese Schonfeld with his plans to launch a 24-hour news channel (Schonfeld had previously approached Turner with the same proposition in 1977 but was rebuffed). Schonfeld responded that it could be done with a staff of 300 if they used an all electronic newsroom and satellites for all transmissions. It would require an initial investment of $15 million–$20 million and several million dollars per month to operate.

In 1979, Turner sold his North Carolina station, WRET, to fund the transaction and established its headquarters in lower-cost, non-union Atlanta. Schonfeld was appointed first president and chief executive of the then-named Cable News Network (CNN). CNN hired Jim Kitchell, former general manager of news at NBC as vice president of production and operations; Sam Zelman as vice president of news and executive producer; Bill MacPhail as head of sports, Ted Kavanau as director of personnel, and Burt Reinhardt as vice president of the network. In 1982, Schonfeld was succeeded as CEO by Turner after a dispute over Schonfeld's firing of Sandi Freeman; and was succeeded as president by CNN's executive vice president, Burt Reinhardt.

Turner Doomsday Video

Main article: Turner Doomsday Video

Turner famously stated before CNN debuted: "We won't be signing off until the world ends. We'll be on, and we will cover the end of the world, live, and that will be our last event... we'll play the National Anthem only one time, on the 1st of June , and when the end of the world comes, we'll play 'Nearer, My God, to Thee' before we sign off." Reportedly, Turner plans to make good on that promise. He commissioned a video recording of a military marching band playing the hymn. Turner has sometimes played the tape for reporters, noting the reason he made it. In 2015, the video was found in CNN's database and leaked. The video was tagged in the database as " till end of world confirmed".

Other ventures

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In 1981, Turner Broadcasting System acquired Brut Productions from Faberge Inc.

After a failed attempt to acquire CBS, Turner purchased the film studio MGM/UA Entertainment Co. from Kirk Kerkorian in 1986 for $1.5 billion. Following the acquisition, Turner had amassed enormous debt and sold parts of the acquisition; Kerkorian bought back MGM/UA Entertainment. The MGM/UA Studio lot in Culver City was sold to Lorimar/Telepictures. Turner kept MGM's pre-May 1986 and pre-merger film and television library.

Turner Entertainment was established in August 1986 to oversee film and television properties owned by Turner thanks to the deal with Kerkorian.

Having now acquired MGM's library of 2,200 films made before 1986, Turner had them syndicated on his nationwide television stations. When broadcasting their older films, he aired colorized versions of ones originally shot in black-and-white. Opposition arose from cinephiles, actors, and directors to Turner's colorization efforts. Film critic Roger Ebert wrote on Turner's broadcasting of a colorized Casablanca, "that will be one of the saddest days in the history of the movies. It is sad because it demonstrates that there is no movie that Turner will spare, no classic however great that is safe from the vulgarity of his computerized graffiti gangs." Thanks in part to Turner's colorization, the Library of Congress established the National Film Registry with the aim to preserve American films in their original format.

In 1988, Turner purchased Jim Crockett Promotions which he renamed World Championship Wrestling (WCW) which became the main competitor to Vince McMahon's World Wrestling Federation (WWF). This rivalry became known as the Monday Night War, and would last throughout the 1990s. In 2001, under AOL Time Warner, WCW was sold to the WWF.

Also in 1988, Turner introduced Turner Network Television (TNT) with Gone with the Wind. TNT, initially showing older movies and television shows, added original programs and newer reruns. Turner would later create Turner Classic Movies (TCM) in 1994, airing Turner's pre-1986 MGM library of films alongside those of Warner Bros. made before 1950, though it has expanded its library since.

In 1989, Turner created the Turner Tomorrow Fellowship for fiction offering positive solutions to global problems. The winner, from 2500 entries worldwide, was Daniel Quinn's Ishmael.

External videos
video icon Ted Turner: Captain Planet – a 2019 documentary hosted by Dr. Sanjay Gupta highlighting the personal life, career, and the environmental work of Ted Turner (CNN Philippines, full episode)

In 1990, he created the Turner Foundation, which focuses on philanthropic grants concerning issues pertaining to the environment and overpopulation. In the same year he created Captain Planet, an environmental superhero. Turner produced the television series Captain Planet and the Planeteers and its later sequel series with Captain Planet as the featured character.

In 1992, the pre-May 1986 MGM library, which also included Warner Bros. properties including the early Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies libraries and also the Fleischer Studios and Famous Studios Popeye cartoons from Paramount (and then United Artists), became the core of Cartoon Network. A year before, Turner's companies purchased Hanna-Barbera Productions (whose longtime parent, Taft/Great American Broadcasting, had been headquartered in Turner's original hometown of Cincinnati), beating out several other bidders including MCA Inc. (whose subsidiaries included Universal Pictures and Universal Destinations & Experiences) and Hallmark Cards. With the 1996 Time Warner merger, the channel's archives gained the later Warner Bros. cartoon library as well as other Time Warner-owned cartoons.

In 1993, Turner and Russian journalist Eduard Sagalajev founded the Moscow Independent Broadcasting Corporation (MIBC). This corporation operated the sixth frequency in Russian television and founded the Russian channel TV-6. The company was later purchased by Russian businessman Boris Berezovsky and an unknown group of private persons. In 2007 the license for TV-6 had expired and there was no application for renewal.

Time Warner merger

Turner speaking at an industry event in 2000

Turner Broadcasting System merged with Time Warner Entertainment on October 10, 1996, with Turner as vice chairman and head of Time Warner Entertainment and Turner's cable networks division. Turner was dropped as head of cable networks by CEO Gerald Levin but remained as Vice Chairman of Time Warner Entertainment. He would be succeeded in March 2001 as head of Turner Broadcasting by Jamie Kellner, who was also greatly responsible for cancelling WCW's television contracts on networks which Turner previously ran. He resigned as AOL Time Warner vice chairman in 2003 and then from the Time Warner board of directors in 2006.

On January 11, 2001, Time Warner Entertainment was purchased by America Online (AOL) to become AOL Time Warner, a merger which Turner initially supported. However, the burst of the dot-com bubble hurt the growth and profitability of the AOL division, which in turn dragged down AOL Time Warner's performance and stock price. At a board meeting in fall 2001, Turner's outburst against AOL Time Warner CEO Gerald Levin eventually led to Levin's announced resignation effective in early 2002, being replaced by Richard Parsons. In contrast to Levin, who as CEO isolated Turner from important company matters, Parsons invited Turner back to provide strategic advice, although Turner never received an operational role that he sought. Time Warner dropped "AOL" from its name in October 2003. In December 2009, AOL was spun off from the Time Warner conglomerate as a separate company.

Turner was Time Warner's biggest individual shareholder. It is estimated he lost as much as $7 billion when the stock collapsed in the wake of the merger. When asked about buying back his former assets, he replied that he "can't afford them now". In June 2014, Rupert Murdoch's 21st Century Fox made a bid for the company valuing it at $80 billion. The Time Warner board rejected the offer and it was formally withdrawn on August 5, 2014.

Rivalry with Murdoch

Turner had a long-running feud with fellow cable magnate Rupert Murdoch for years. This originated in 1983 when a Murdoch-sponsored yacht collided with the yacht skippered by Turner, Condor, during the Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race, causing it to run aground 6.2 miles (10.0 km) from the finish line. At the post-race dinner, a drunken Turner verbally assaulted Murdoch, afterward challenging him to a televised fistfight in Las Vegas.

Murdoch's Fox News, established in 1996, became a rival to Turner's CNN, a channel that Murdoch regarded with disdain for its "liberal slant" in news coverage. Time Warner declined to carry it on their New York City cable network in response, who in the midst of a merger, Turner said would "squash Rupert Murdoch like a bug."

In 2003, Turner challenged Murdoch to another fistfight, and later on accused Murdoch of being a "warmonger" for his support and backing of President George W. Bush's invasion of Iraq.

However, revealing in an interview with Variety in 2019, Turner said he and Murdoch have since made amends.

Atlanta Braves

Baseball player
Ted Turner
Atlanta Braves – No. 27
Manager
Born: (1938-11-19) November 19, 1938 (age 86)
Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S.
MLB debut
May 11, 1977, for the Atlanta Braves
Last MLB appearance
May 11, 1977, for the Atlanta Braves
MLB statistics
Games1
Win–loss record0–1
Winning %.000
Managerial record at Baseball Reference Edit this at Wikidata
Teams

For most of his first decade as owner of the Braves, Turner was a very hands-on owner. This peaked in 1977, his second year as owner.

Turner was suspended for one year by Commissioner of Baseball Bowie Kuhn on January 3, 1977, for his actions while pursuing the signing of free agent outfielder Gary Matthews from the San Francisco Giants. Matthews signed a five-year, $1.875 million contract with the Braves on November 18, 1976. Kuhn's actions stemmed from remarks made by Turner to then-Giants owner Bob Lurie during the 1976 World Series. In addition, the Braves were also stripped of their first-round selections in the June 1978 draft of high school and college players. Turner, however, successfully appealed the suspension and Kuhn relented and reinstated the draft selections, one of which would turn out to be Bob Horner from Arizona State University.

On May 11, 1977, with the team mired in a 16-game losing streak, Turner sent manager Dave Bristol on a 10-day "scouting trip" and Turner himself took over as interim manager – the first owner/manager in the majors since Connie Mack. He ran the team for one game (a loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates) before National League president Chub Feeney ordered him to stop running the team. Feeney cited major league rules which bar managers and players from owning stock in their clubs. Turner appealed to Commissioner of Baseball Bowie Kuhn, and showed up to manage the Braves when they returned home. However, Kuhn turned down the appeal, citing Turner's "lack of familiarity with game operations."

In the mid-1980s Turner began leaving day-to-day operations to the baseball operations staff, and the team (still under Turner's ownership) won the 1995 World Series.

The Atlanta Braves were sold by Time Warner (which had assumed control after the merger with Turner Broadcasting System) to Liberty Media in 2007.

Awards and honors

The Commissioner's Trophy given to the Atlanta Braves – owned at the time by Turner – for winning the 1995 World Series (shown on display at Turner Field – named for Turner – the Braves' home ballpark)

Emmy Awards

  • Lifetime Achievement – Sports (2014)
  • Lifetime Achievement – News & Documentary (2015)

Sports

Media

Halls of Fame

Organizational

Politics

Ted Turner calling on the Prime Minister of India, Dr. Manmohan Singh, in New Delhi, 2005
Turner and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry in December 2015

On September 19, 2006, in a Reuters Newsmaker conference, Turner said of Iran's nuclear position: "They're a sovereign state. We have 28,000. Why can't they have 10? We don't say anything about Israel‍—‌they've got 100 of them approximately‍—‌or India or Pakistan or Russia."

A proponent of healthcare reform bills, Turner has said: "We’re the only first-world country that doesn't have universal healthcare and it's a disgrace."

In 2010, during the wake of both the devastating Deepwater Horizon environmental disaster and the Upper Big Branch Mine disaster that killed 29 miners in West Virginia, Turner stated on CNN that "I'm just wondering if God is telling us he doesn't want to drill offshore. And right before that, we had that coal mine disaster in West Virginia where we lost 29 miners ... Maybe the Lord's tired of having the mountains of West Virginia, the tops knocked off of them so they may get more coal. I think maybe we ought to just leave the coal in the ground and go with solar and wind power and geothermals ..."

Turner endorsed Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton in the run-up for the 2016 U.S. presidential election. In 2018 he revealed he had once considered a run for president when he was married to Jane Fonda, who told him she would leave him if he did.

Curbing population growth

Along with advocating for clean water and improved stewardship of the land, Turner established the Turner Foundation to address ways to curb population growth. Turner has put $125 million of his own money into the foundation and has set aside $6 million per year to address population growth rates. Addressing the issue at a Montana gathering in 1996 he said "I'm not talking about getting rid of anybody here, I've got 5 children myself." He went on to discuss hunger and poverty and ways to address those issues.

In 2009 Turner met with other business moguls to include Oprah Winfrey, Bill Gates, George Soros and David Rockefeller to address issues ranging from the environment to healthcare. The group also addressed population growth with discussion of vaccines and immunization efforts being criticized due to the perception that decision making and public policy could be directed by a handful of elites. Although no formal statement was released, the event was covered by Paul Harris for The Guardian.

Controversial comments

With wife Jane Fonda in 1992

Turner once called observers of Ash Wednesday "Jesus freaks", though he apologized, and dubbed opponents of abortion "bozos".

In 1999, Turner made a joke about Polish mine detectors when asked about Pope John Paul II. After a harsh response from the Polish deputy foreign minister Radek Sikorski, Turner apologized.

In 2002, Turner accused Israel of terror: "The Palestinians are fighting with human suicide bombers, that's all they have. The Israelis ... they've got one of the most powerful military machines in the world. The Palestinians have nothing. So who are the terrorists? I would make a case that both sides are involved in terrorism." He apologized for that and the remarks in 2011 about the 9/11 hijackers, but also defended himself: "Look, I'm a very good thinker, but I sometimes grab the wrong word ... I mean, I don't type my speeches, then sit up there and read them off the teleprompter, you know. I wing it."

Also in 2008, Turner asserted on PBS's Charlie Rose television program that if steps are not taken to address global warming, most people would die and "the rest of us will be cannibals". Turner also said in the interview that he advocated Americans having no more than two children. In 2010, he stated that China's one-child policy should be implemented.

Turner Enterprises

Turner Building Solar Array

Turner Enterprises, Inc. (TEI) is a private American company that was founded in 1976 and manages the business interests, land holdings and investments of Ted Turner, including the oversight of Turner's 24 properties across the United States and Argentina. At two million acres of personal and ranch land, Turner is the second-largest landowner in North America. He owned 19 ranches – 16 in the western U.S. and three in Argentina. In January 2016, the Osage Nation bought Turner's 43,000 acre (170 km) Bluestem Ranch in Osage County, Oklahoma. Turner had purchased the property in 2001 primarily to raise bison.

Through Turner Enterprises, he owns ranches in Colorado, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and South Dakota. Totaling 1,910,585 acres (7,731.86 km), his land-holdings across America make Turner one of the largest individual landowners in North America (by acreage).

TEI ranches are primarily used for bison ranching. His bison herd, approximately 51,000 animals on 15 ranches, is the largest private herd in the world. The company's mission statement is "To manage Turner lands in an economically sustainable and ecologically sensitive manner while promoting the conservation of native species." Other important wildlife species on the property include whitetail deer, wild turkey and bobwhite quail. In addition to bison ranching, TEI ranches are also used for commercial fishing and hunting, as well as limited sustainable timber harvesting, as well as eco-tourism on the New Mexico ranches. His biggest ranch is Vermejo Park Ranch in New Mexico. At 920 square miles (2,400 km), it is the largest privately owned, contiguous tract of land in the United States.

TEI works closely with Turner's philanthropic and charitable interests, including the founding and ongoing operations of the United Nations Foundation, Nuclear Threat Initiative, Turner Foundation, Planet Foundation], and the Turner Endangered Species Fund. Turner Enterprises is headquartered in the Turner Building (formerly the Bona Allen Office Building) in Atlanta, Georgia, also home to the Ted's Montana Grill restaurant chain, Ted Turner Reserves and Turner Renewable Energy. In 2011, Ted Turner and TEI completed construction of a 25-panel solar array in the company's parking lot, which provides solar power to the Turner Building and its businesses

Chaired by Turner, TEI's executive leadership also includes CEO & President S. Taylor Glover.

Personal life

Turner and his third wife, Jane Fonda, in Washington, D.C., 2002

Turner has been married and divorced three times: to Judy Nye (1960–1964), Jane Shirley Smith (1965–1988), and actress Jane Fonda (1991–2001). He has five children. In a television interview with Piers Morgan on May 3, 2012, Turner said he had four girlfriends, which he acknowledged was complicated but nonetheless easier than being married. One of Turner's children, Robert Edward "Teddy" Turner IV, announced on January 23, 2013, that he intended to run in the South Carolina Republican primary for the open Congressional seat vacated by Tim Scott who was appointed to the US Senate. Turner's son came in 4th, receiving 7.90% of the vote.

In 2010, Turner joined Warren Buffett's and Bill Gates's The Giving Pledge, vowing to donate the majority of his fortune to charity upon his death.

In the 1993 biography It Ain't As Easy as It Looks by Porter Bibb, Turner discussed his use of lithium and struggles with mental illness. The 1981 biography Lead, Follow or Get Out of the Way by Christian Williams chronicles the founding of CNN. In 2008, Turner wrote Call Me Ted, which documents his career and personal life.

In an interview on CBS Sunday Morning in 2018, Turner revealed his diagnosis of Lewy body dementia.

Sailing

Ted Turner
Sailing career
Club Savannah Yacht Club
College team Brown University
Medal record
Sailing
Representing  United States
World Championships
Gold medal – first place 1971 Seawanhaka 5.5m
Silver medal – second place 1970 Sydney 5.5m
Silver medal – second place 1972 Geneva 5.5m
Silver medal – second place 1976 Hankø 5.5m

When Turner was 26, he entered sailing competitions at the Savannah Yacht Club and competed in Olympic trials in 1964. He first attempted to win the America's Cup in 1974, losing in the defender's trials, aboard 12 Metre class yacht US–25 Mariner. Turner was defeated by Ted Hood aboard US–26 Courageous.

Turner was asked to join the 1977 America's Cup defense syndicate formed by Hood and Lee Loomis for the New York Yacht Club. That group still owned the Courageous but decided to design and construct a new 12 Metre - US–28 Independence - to defend the 1974 America's Cup victory. However, in the trials, with Turner as skipper aboard the 3-year-old Courageous proved to be the faster than Hood and Independence and was selected to race in the 1977 races.

From 13 to 18 September 1977 Courageous, with Turner in command, defeated the challenger Australia, skippered by Noel Robins, in a four-race sweep. Courageous' greatest winning margin out of all four races was 2 minutes and 23 seconds.

In the 1979 Fastnet Race, in a storm that killed 15 participants, he skippered the S&S-designed 61-footer Tenacious to a corrected-time victory.

Turner appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated on July 4, 1977, after winning 1977 America's Cup. Turner was inducted into the America's Cup Hall of Fame in 1993, and the National Sailing Hall of Fame in 2011.

Legacy

Turner in 1999
The LBJ Foundation honors entrepreneur and philanthropist Ted Turner with the 2015 Lady Bird Johnson Environmental Award at the LBJ Presidential Library

Turner has been regarded as one of the entrepreneurs who transformed the cable industry and being referred to as "Alexander the Great of broadcasting":

While Turner has been described as a "valiant liberator" and cast the networks as oppressive scoundrels, in content his programming fell short of inspiring. His network was built on sitcom reruns, old movies, cartoons, and Atlanta Braves games. He found an audience for classics of a bygone time, along with slightly down-market content like professional wrestling. Nonetheless, he would find glorious terms even for retreads and junk, claiming to be pulling America back to television's golden age: "I want to get it back to the principles" he once said, "that made us good." Nostalgic, Manichean, and boot-strappy: like programmer, like programming

The cable industry boomed in the late 1970s and early 1980s, as nearly a dozen cable networks launched based on the Turner model. They include much of what we now consider the staples of cable TV, including ESPN, MTV, Bravo, Showtime, BET, the Discovery Channel, and the Weather Channel. Those are the better-known channels only by virtue of having survived; others, such as ARTS, CBS Cable, and the Satellite News Channel, folded or were acquired by other companies

Bob Hope, who is co-owner and president of Hope-Beckham, an independent agency based in Atlanta that previously worked for Turner in his networks, has described that "Ted Turner was special. His vision and his determination and his unwillingness to quit were infectious. He was willing to start small and had the persistence and patience to make his ideas grow". Hope also further reiterated that "In some ways, he was outrageous, but in most ways he was remarkable. He had great passion for doing what was right for the world. He stated his dream of using communication to bring peace, to tell both sides of any story, that 'one man's terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter.' If he could get people to understand each other, there would be no wars. His vision was bold and infectious. His Goodwill Games, his creation of the UN Foundation, and his approach to news on the original CNN were passions for peace".

Professional wrestling promoter and former Senior Vice President of WCW second in charge after Turner, Eric Bischoff praised Turner claiming "He was an inspirational leader, he was a risk taker, he appreciated people who took risks, he was not afraid of failure while most people are. Ted was not afraid to fail, he was more afraid of not trying and not conquering that next horizon.”

On June 24, 1999, Vince McMahon stated on Late Night with Conan O'Brien: "All I'll say about Ted is he's a son-of-a-bitch, other than that, he's probably not a bad guy, but I don't like him at all". Later in 2021, when asked about the upstart AEW in comparison to Turner's WCW, McMahon dismissed AEW, stating that "it certainly is not a situation where 'rising tides' because that was when Ted Turner was coming after us with all of Time Warner's assets as well".

In 2010 Turner was named a Georgia Trustee, an honor given by the Georgia Historical Society, in conjunction with the Governor of Georgia, to individuals whose accomplishments and community service reflect the ideals of the founding body of Trustees, which governed the Georgia colony from 1732 to 1752.

References

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Further reading

Biographies

External videos
video icon Presentation by Auletta on Media Man, November 4, 2004, C-SPAN
  • Media Man: Ted Turner's Improbable Empire by Ken Auletta (W. W. Norton, 2004) ISBN 0-393-05168-4
  • Clash of the Titans: How the Unbridled Ambition of Ted Turner and Rupert Murdoch Has Created Global Empires that Control What We Read and Watch Each Day by Richard Hack (New Millennium Press, 2003) ISBN 1-893224-60-0
  • Me and Ted Against the World: The Unauthorized Story of the Founding of CNN by Reese Schonfeld (HarperBusiness, 2001) 0060197463
  • Ted Turner Speaks: Insights from the World's Greatest Maverick by Janet Lowe (Wiley, 1999) ISBN 0-471-34563-6
  • Riding A White Horse: Ted Turner's Goodwill Games and Other Crusades by Althea Carlson (Episcopal Press, 1998) ISBN 0-9663743-0-4
  • Porter Bibb (1996). Ted Turner: It Ain't As Easy as It Looks: The Amazing Story of CNN. Virgin Books. ISBN 0-86369-892-1.
  • Citizen Turner: The Wild Rise of an American Tycoon by Robert Goldberg and Gerald Jay Goldberg (Harcourt, 1995) ISBN 0-15-118008-3
  • CNN: The Inside Story: How a Band of Mavericks Changed the Face of Television News by Hank Whittemore (Little Brown & Co, 1990) ISBN 0-316-93761-4
  • Lead Follow or Get Out of the Way: The Story of Ted Turner by Christian Williams (Times Books, 1981) ISBN 0-8129-1004-4
  • Atlanta Rising: The Invention of an International City 1946–1996 by Frederick Allen (Longstreet Press, 1996) ISBN 1-56352-296-9

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