Ted Turner, a billionaire and a liberal who, founded CNN, funded Democrat agenda points and one time financed the United Nations with a billion dollar donation, has died at the age of 87.
His death was announced by Turner Enterprises.
CNN Worldwide chief Mark Thompson said, “Ted was an intensely involved and committed leader, intrepid, fearless and always willing to back a hunch and trust his own judgement. 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.”
President Donald Trump reacted to the news, saying: “Ted Turner, one of the Greats of All Time, just died. He founded CNN, sold it, and was personally devastated by the Deal because the new ownership took CNN, his ‘baby,’ and destroyed it. It became woke, and everything that he is not all about.
“Maybe the new buyers, wonderful people, will be able to bring it back to its former credibility and glory. Regardless, however, one of the Greats of Broadcast History, and a friend of mine. Whenever I needed him, he was there, always willing to fight for a good cause!”
A commentary at the Colson Center at the peak of his influence, when he was named Time’s “Man of the Year,” pointed out his successes, “millionaire playboy and cable television czar. He married movie star Jane Fond. The Atlanta Braves, the team he (at the time) owns, made it to the World Series.”
Turner also was widely known for bashing Christianity.
“In his youth, Turner was a practicing Christian. He even planned to be a missionary. But when he was 20, his younger sister died of a long and debilitating illness, and he abandoned his faith in God. Turner now harbors a fierce hostility against Christians. A few years ago, he was quoted in a newspaper saying ‘Christianity is a religion for losers.’ But like so many one-time believers, Turner didn’t lose his religious passion. He just redirected it–in his case, toward himself. One of his associates told Time magazine, ‘Ted is the great ‘I am’.’ Playing up to the image, Turner belittles the Ten Commandments as ‘obsolete,’ and offers in their place his own list of what he calls ‘voluntary initiatives’–or what others have dubbed the Ted Commandments.”
His Christian faith eventually became replaced with a “New-Age, save-the-earth environmentalism,” that report noted.
He was born in Ohio and nicknamed “The Mouth of the South” for his blunt speaking.
Turner launched CNN in 1980 and later sold it to Time Warner.
Just over a month before his 80th birthday in 2018, Turner revealed that he had Lewy body dementia, a progressive brain disorder. In early 2025, Turner was hospitalized with a mild case of pneumonia before recovering at a rehabilitation facility.
Turner is survived by his five children, 14 grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren.
BREAKING: President Trump on Truth Social: “Ted Turner, one of the Greats of All Time, just died. He founded CNN, sold it, and was personally devastated by the Deal because the new ownership took CNN, his ‘baby,’ and destroyed it. It became woke, and everything that he is not all… pic.twitter.com/Ph89mK56gW
— RedWave Press (@RedWavePress) May 6, 2026
Ted Turner lived with Lewy body dementia for nearly a decades. In recent days, I’m told, he transitioned to hospice care, and family gathered by his bedside pic.twitter.com/U7WWlUpVUR
— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) May 6, 2026
RIP Ted Turner
This is when he oversaw the contract signing for “the match of the century”: Ric Flair v Hulk Hogan at Bash at the Beach ’94
Look at his face light up as Flair and Hogan tear into each other!
A real wrasslin’ fan!
📺YouTube/NostalgiaMania – Wrestling pic.twitter.com/89eAjBMbez
— On This Day in WWE (@OTD_in_WWE) May 6, 2026
CNN founder Ted Turner, who has five children, explains why we need to reduce the world’s population down to two billion people—a 75% reduction from today’s population—to prevent “global warming”.
“We’ve got to stabilise the population… We’re too many people. That’s why we have… pic.twitter.com/hEJUXk3h8e
— illuminatibot (@iluminatibot) April 23, 2026
BREAKING: CNN founder and cable news pioneer Ted Turner has died at the age of 87.
Turner pioneered the media industry with the creation of the 24-hour cable news network in 1980.
He died peacefully and was surrounded by family, according to CNN. pic.twitter.com/2gTcIZp8f2
— Fox News (@FoxNews) May 6, 2026
Ted Turner, the billionaire media entrepreneur and philanthropist who launched the 24-hour cable TV news revolution when he founded CNN in 1980, has died. He was 87. https://t.co/61G2Kuh8Vz pic.twitter.com/SqGmFOE48R
— CNN Breaking News (@cnnbrk) May 6, 2026
Ted Turner, the “Mouth of the South,” was an American legend and a true Georgia icon.
Raised in Savannah, Ted built his empire in Georgia soil, starting with billboards in Macon and Atlanta before launching CNN, where he created the 24 hour news market. As owner, Ted led the… pic.twitter.com/yuItza6g2U
— Rep. Mike Collins (@RepMikeCollins) May 6, 2026
He also was involved in pro wrestling, the cattle industry and the Atlanta Braves.
