Ted Turner created CNN in 1980, changing the way America, and the world, got their news, and went on to become one of the most prominent business leaders and philanthropists of his era.
A risk-taker, Turner – whose death at the age of 87 was announced on Wednesday – helped reshape the television industry at the end of the 20th century.
He also made a name for himself with attractive business deals, his ownership of professional sports clubs, his marriage to actress Jane Fonda, his leadership of a competitive yachting team and then his commitment to support and the environment.
Born in Cincinnati, Ohio in November 1938, Robert Edward “Ted” Turner III went to a military boarding school in Tennessee, then attended Brown University, but was expelled before graduating.
Turner took over the family’s failing advertising business after his father, desperate because of financial problems, committed suicide.
After buying a number of radio stations, Turner’s purchase of an Atlanta station in 1970 was his first step into television.
