For other people named Ted Turner, see Ted Turner (disambiguation).
Ted Turner
Turner in 2015
Born
Robert Edward Turner III
(1938-11-19) November 19, 1938 (age 85)
Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S.
Alma mater
Brown University
Occupation(s)
Entrepreneur, television producer, media proprietor, philanthropist
Known for
Founder of TNT, TBS, and CNN
Co-founder of the Nuclear Threat Initiative
Former Atlanta Hawks owner
Former Atlanta Braves owner
Former Atlanta Thrashers owner
Former World Championship Wrestling owner
Co-founder of Ted's Montana Grill
Founder of TV-6
Co-creator of Captain Planet and the Planeteers
Spouses
Julia Gale Nye
(m. 1960; div. 1964)
Jane Shirley Smith
(m. 1965; div. 1988)
Jane Fonda
(m. 1991; div. 2001)
Children
5
Website
tedturner.com
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, which later became TBS.
As a philanthropist, he gave $1 billion to create the United Nations Foundation, a public charity to broaden U.S. support for the UN. Turner serves as Chairman of the United Nations Foundation board of directors.[1] 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.[2] It was worth $1 million. His purchase of an Atlanta UHF station in 1970 began the Turner Broadcasting System. CNN revolutionized news media, covering the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster in 1986 and the Persian Gulf War in 1991. 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".[3][4] 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.[5][6] 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.[7]
^"United Nations Foundation | Helping the UN build a better world". Unfoundation.org. Retrieved October 21, 2021.
^Porter Bibb (1996). Ted Turner: It Ain't as Easy as It Looks: The Amazing Story of CNN. Virgin Books. pp. 55–56. ISBN 0-86369-892-1.
^Porter Bibb (1996). Ted Turner: It Ain't As Easy as It Looks: The Amazing Story of CNN. Virgin Books. pp. 138, 272, 283, 442. ISBN 0-86369-892-1.
^Koepp, Stephen (April 12, 2005). "Captain Outrageous Opens Fire". Time. Archived from the original on October 29, 2010.
^Doyle, Leonard (December 1, 2007). "Turner becomes largest private landowner in US – Americas, World". The Independent. London. Archived from the original on May 17, 2009. Retrieved March 29, 2009.
^Seelye, Katharine Q. (January 28, 2011). "For Land Barons, Acres by the Millions". The New York Times.
^Eve M. Kahn (March 3, 1991). "Television; Cartoons for a Small Planet". New York Times. Retrieved March 9, 2015.
Academy of Achievement TedTurner collected news and commentary at The New York Times Appearances on C-SPAN TedTurner at IMDb TedTurner at The Interviews:...
Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. was an American television and media conglomerate founded by TedTurner in 1965. Based in Atlanta, Georgia, it merged...
funniest thing we've ever done". The skits parodied Turner, who was referred to as "Billionaire Ted" and portrayed as a bumbling, out-of-touch hillbilly...
media magnate TedTurner, owner of superstation WTBS, as a means to keep the team (and one of his main programming staples) in Atlanta. Turner used the Braves...
in the Yardbirds in 1966. Their contributions helped Andy Powell and TedTurner to be voted "Two of the Ten Most Important Guitarists in Rock History"...
Turner Entertainment Company is an American multimedia company founded by TedTurner on August 2, 1986. Purchased by Time Warner on October 10, 1996, as...
end of the world. The video, created at the direction of CNN founder TedTurner before the network's 1980 launch, is a performance of the Christian hymn...
in Atlanta, Georgia. Founded by Betty Cohen (who was also appointed by TedTurner as the first president of the network), the channel was launched on October...
was an American professional wrestling promotion founded by TedTurner in 1988, after Turner Broadcasting System, through a subsidiary named Universal Wrestling...
that appeared on the national scene under the ownership of media mogul TedTurner and based in Atlanta, Georgia. Prior to the launch of WCW as a separate...
in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor TedTurner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned...
Night with Conan O'Brien show and said he viewed TedTurner as his rival, stating "All I'll say about Ted is he's a son-of-a-bitch, other than that, he's...
Stadium. After the ballpark was instead named after TedTurner (and subsequently nicknamed "The Ted" by fans), the city of Atlanta renamed the section...
in November 1973. Following the release of the album, founding member TedTurner left the band. The album features 11 tracks, 10 of which originally featured...
The Ted may refer to Ted Constant Convocation Center, now Chartway Arena, an arena complex in Norfolk, Virginia. Turner Field, a former ballpark in Atlanta...
originally included bassist and lead vocalist Martin Turner, guitarists and vocalists Andy Powell and TedTurner, and drummer Steve Upton. The band currently...
the launch of Turner Classic Movies, TedTurner acquired the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) film studio for $1.5 billion. Concerns over Turner Entertainment's...
and states that she "still loves men", adding that when she divorced TedTurner, she felt like she had also divorced the world of patriarchy, and was...
played for the Hawks. Cable network entrepreneur and Atlanta Braves owner TedTurner bought the team in 1977 and hired Hubie Brown to become head coach. The...
as "Trillionaire Ted", satirizing "Billionaire Ted", which was itself a disparaging nickname WWF had given to WCW owner TedTurner. DiBiase was the spokesperson...
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