CNN founder Ted Turner died Wednesday at the age of 87.
CNN Worldwide Chairman and CEO Mark Thompson confirmed Turner’s death in a statement, calling him the “presiding spirit of CNN.”
“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.”
— CNN Communications (@CNNPR) May 6, 2026
Turner revealed in 2018 that he suffered from Lewy body dementia, a progressive brain disorder, CNN reported. In early 2025, Turner was hospitalized at a rehabilitation facility with a mild case of pneumonia.
Turner’s media career began in 1963 when he took over his father’s billboard company, Turner Outdoor Advertising, following the elder Turner’s suicide, CNN reported. He bought up radio stations and later entered television in 1970 by acquiring a local station in Atlanta called Channel 17. He harshly criticized broadcast television, and believed the U.S. had so many problems because of how “ill-informed” Americans were.
In an attempt to create a news channel, Turner recruited Reese Schonfeld, CNN’s founding president, to create the network, which first went live on June 1, 1980, according to CNN. He launched other channels such as TBS, TNT, Cartoon Network and Turner Classic Movies.
Turner sold his company, Turner Broadcasting System, Inc., to Time Warner in 1996 for approximately $7.3 billion, which included CNN and other networks he founded.
CNN’s ratings have struggled in comparison to its competitors, Fox News and MS NOW. The network’s primetime viewership fell by 42% in the third quarter of 2025, and the network has also lost one-third of its primetime viewership since 2016.
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