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Ted Turner, the U.S. entrepreneur who transformed television news by creating CNN in 1980, has died at the age of 87, the network said Wednesday.
Turner, a yachting enthusiast and philanthropist whose business empire also included sports clubs, had been suffering from Lewy body dementia, a degenerative disease.
Cable News Network reshaped broadcasting by focusing on around-the-clock breaking news.
The 24-hour network was the first in the United States to provide non-stop news coverage and quickly built a global presence.
CNN gained worldwide recognition with its coverage of the Gulf War in 1990-91. The network’s decision to keep reporters in Baghdad during U.S. bombing of the Iraqi capital helped cement its reputation as a key source of breaking news.
CNN correspondents also provided live coverage from major global events, including the collapse of the Soviet Union and the Chinese crackdown on the Tiananmen Square protests.
“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,” Mark Thompson, chairman and CEO of CNN Worldwide, said in a statement.
“He was and always will be the presiding spirit of CNN,” Thompson said.
Robert Edward “Ted” Turner III was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, in November 1938.
He attended a military boarding school in Tennessee and later studied at Brown University, but was expelled before graduating.
Turner took over his family’s advertising business after his father, who was struggling with financial problems, died by suicide.
After buying several radio stations, Turner entered television in 1970 with the purchase of a struggling Atlanta station. A decade later, it became the flagship of his nationwide Turner Broadcasting System.
Turner used profits from that business to launch CNN.
CNN’s success later inspired other 24-hour news channels, including Fox News, MSNBC and networks around the world.
Turner’s television empire grew beyond CNN to include TBS and TNT for sports and entertainment, as well as Turner Classic Movies and Cartoon Network.
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