Ted Turner
Media Mogul and Philanthropist
Robert Edward “Ted” Turner is an American media mogul and philanthropist. As a businessman, he is known as founder of the cable news network CNN, the first dedicated 24-hour cable news channel. He attended Brown University and was vice-president of the Brown Debating Union and captain of the sailing team. After the death of his father at age 24, he took the family’s billboard business. He went on to purchase Atlanta UHF and started assembling his Turner Broadcasting System.
In 1980 he launched CNN, which rose to prominence as it garnered a reputation for having its reporters arrive first on any news scene. Some of the incidents that marked CNN as a serious network were the covering of the Reagan assassination attempt in 1981, the Challenger disaster in 1986 and the first Persian Gulf War in 1991.
In 1986 Turner purchased Metro-Goldwyn-Myer (MGM) / United artists instead and used their extensive film library to launch TNT in 1988. In 1996, Turner Broadcasting System merged with Time Warner Inc. and Ted Turner became the Vice Chairman of the company of which he now owned 10% – the largest individual stockholder.
As a philanthropist, he is known for his $1 billion gift to support UN causes, which created the United Nations Foundation, a public charity to broaden support for the UN. Turner serves as Chairman of the United Nations Foundation board of directors. His other causes include the Turner Foundation, Inc, Turner Endangered Species Fund and the Nuclear Threat Initiative. He is also the originator of the Goodwill Games that started in 1986.
Turner has also devoted his assets to environmental causes. As one of the largest private land owners in the US, he uses much of his land for ranches to re-popularize bison meat, amassing the largest herd in the world. He also created the environmental-themed animated series Captain Planet and the Planeteers.
