Here’s a look at philanthropist and environmentalist Ted Turner, founder of CNN and Turner Broadcasting System.
Personal:
Birth date: November 19, 1938
Birth place: Cincinnati, Ohio
Birth name: Robert Edward Turner III
Father: Robert Edward Turner
Mother: Florence (Rooney) Turner
Marriages: Jane Fonda (1991-2001, divorced); Jane (Smith) Turner (1964-1987, divorced. Some sources have 1988 for the divorce.); Judy (Nye) Turner (1960-early 1960s, divorced).
Children: with Jane (Smith) Turner: Beau, Rhett, Jennie; with Judy (Nye) Turner: Laura Lee and Robert Edward IV
Education: Attended Brown University, 1957-1960
Military: US Coast Guard
Other Facts:
Won the America’s Cup with the yacht “Courageous” in 1977.
Nicknames: Mouth of the South, Terrible Ted, Captain Outrageous.
Claims his secret to success is “Early to bed, early to rise, work like hell and advertise.”
Timeline:
March 1963 – Takes over the family’s business, Turner Advertising Co., after his father’s suicide.
1970 – After turning the family business around and renaming it the Turner Communications Group, Turner purchases two independent UHF stations, in Atlanta and Charlotte, North Carolina, and names them WTCG and WRET, after his company and himself.
1976 – Turner Broadcasting Systems (TBS) becomes the nation’s first “superstation” using satellite technology to carry its signal nationwide; also purchases the Atlanta Braves.
1977 – Purchases the Atlanta Hawks basketball team.
June 1, 1980 – Launches CNN, the first 24-hour all-news cable network.
January 1, 1982 – CNN Headline News begins broadcasting.
August 1985 – Acquires MGM-UA Entertainment, including its library of thousands of classic films
September 1985 – CNNI is first launched.
1986 – Creates the Goodwill Games. They are held five times, until 2000.
October 3, 1988 – TNT is launched.
1990 – Establishes the Turner Foundation with a vision toward the preservation and conservation of the environment throughout the world.
1991 – Time Magazine names Turner “Man of the Year.”
October 1, 1992 – The Cartoon Network goes on the air for the first time.
April 1994 – Launch of TCM (Turner Classic Movies).
October 1996 – Sells Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. to Time Warner, Inc., for $7.34 billion; becomes vice chairman.
1996-2001 – Member of the Time Warner Board of Directors.
1996 – Buys the 578,000 acre Vermejo Park Ranch in New Mexico that stretches into Colorado. The ranch reportedly is one of the largest privately owned ranches in the country.
1997 – Pledges $1 billion to the United Nations to be paid out in increments over the next ten years.
March 17, 1997 – CNN en Espanol is launched.
1999 – “Ted Turner Speaks: Insights from the World’s Greatest Maverick,” is released, co-written with Janet Lowe.
January 2001 – Establishes the Nuclear Threat Initiative with former Senator Sam Nunn.
January 11, 2001 – The AOL and Time Warner, Inc., merger is completed.
2001-2003 – Vice Chairman of AOL Time Warner, Inc.
2001-2006 – Member of the AOL Time Warner Inc., Board of Directors.
2002 – Launches the restaurant chain Ted’s Montana Grill with business partner George McKerrow Jr.
April 7, 2004 – Receives a star on Hollywood’s Walk of Fame.
February 24, 2006 – Announces he will not seek not re-election to the board of Time Warner. He receives a standing ovation on his last day, May 19.
January 10, 2007 – Partners with New Jersey-based Dome Tech Solar to create DT Solar, a renewable energy company focusing on solar power.
November 10, 2008 – His autobiography, “Call Me Ted,” is released.
August 2010 – Is named among 40 billionaires pledging half or more of their fortune to charity through “The Giving Pledge” campaign.
October 2011 – After four years in a row as number one, Turner slips to number two on the list of largest landowners. John Malone, chairman of Liberty Media, is now the largest landowner.
March 7, 2014 – Turner’s spokesman says Turner has been hospitalized for observation while traveling in South America. Turner later releases a statement saying he underwent a minor procedure due to appendicitis.
2015 – Turner makes his final payment to the United Nations and fulfills the $1 billion pledge he made in 1997.
September 28, 2015 – Turner receives the News and Documentary Emmy award for lifetime achievement during a ceremony in New York.
April 2016 – Forbes, in its annual list of the world’s billionaires, estimates Turner’s net worth at $2.2 billion.
August 23, 2016 – Turner officially transfers (after selling) ownership of his 43,000-acre property, Bluestem Ranch in Oklahoma, to the Osage Nation led by Principal Chief Geoffrey Standing Bear. Turner writes a letter to the tribe stating ” I know that I am leaving Bluestem in the right hands, and I am grateful for the relationship we’ve been able to build with the Osage Nation.”