CNN founder Ted Turner passed away at the age of 87.
CNN Worldwide Chairman and CEO Mark Thompson confirmed Turner’s death.
“Ted was an intensely involved and committed leader, intrepid, fearless and always willing to take a hunch and trust his own judgement,” Thompson said. “He was and always will be the presiding spirit of CNN. Ted is the giant on whose shoulders we stand, and we will all take a moment today to recognize him and his impact on our lives and the world.”
President Trump honored Turner in a statement on Truth Social.
“Ted Turner, one of the Greats of All Time, just died. He founded CNN, sold it, and was personally devastated by the Deal because the new ownership took CNN, his ‘baby,’ and destroyed it,” he wrote. “It became woke, and everything that he is not all about. Maybe the new buyers, wonderful people, will be able to bring it back to its former credibility and glory. Regardless, however, one of the Greats of Broadcast History, and a friend of mine. Whenever I needed him, he was there, always willing to fight for a good cause!”
In 2018, Turner revealed that he had Lewy body dementia, a progressive brain disorder.
CNN reports that Turner’s career began in 1963 after taking over his father’s billboard company. He later bought up radio stations and entered the television industry in 1970. Channel 17 became cable TV’s first superstation in 1976, the report notes.
CNN went live in 1980. Turner later added non-news channels such as Turner Network Television (TNT), Turner Classic Movies (TCM) and the Cartoon Network.
