Ted Turner
Former media mogul
By Valeria Zamora
Childhood
Ted turner had a rough childhood, often with pain and rejection. His father had bipolar disease which made him extremely emotionally unstable. He dealt with his rage by beating and abusing Ted. When Pearl Harbor happened in 1941, Robert, Teds father, left to go to the military along the gulf coast with his wife and daughter. Ted was left in Cincinnati in a boarding school. Ted was left again when his father, mother, and sister moved to Savannah, GA and he was left in a military academy near Atlanta. Ted went to Brown, but was dropped out in 1959; the same year that his parents divorced.
Starting Work
In 1960, Ted married Judy G. Nye, but divorced two years after in 1962. Ted was soon made branch manager at Turner advertising company-by his father. Ted, with his finance skills, made the company boom, but also put the company in debt. Scared of going bankrupt and still with his bipolar disease, Robert shot himself. Ted became president of the company and immediately began to expand it. He bought Atlanta UHF television station WJRJ, and renamed it to Turner Communications Group (WTCG). Half a year later he bought the Charlotte, North Carolina, UHF station WRET. Both of these companies were not doing well, but he was a man to take risks. In 1971 WTCG lost $500,000, but Ted made up for it by making a net of $1 Million in 1973. He also rented a channel on RCA's SATCOM II communications satellite, bought the Atlanta Braves major baseball team, and bought 95 percent of the Atlanta Hawks basketball team-all of this from 1975-1976.
New Idea
In 1980, Ted sold WRET to help pay for his new idea: a network that showed news all day. He launched Cable News Network. Most people had a negative view. The press, ABC, CBS, and NBC, all thought that nobody wanted to watch news all day. He didn’t give up though. One of his most famous quotes is “You can never quit. Winners never quit and quitters never win.” He gave the world something new. They used to watch the 6 o’clock news, but now people could watch news at any time. He started a revolution in the broadcasting news business. CNN branched out from the original, making CNNRadio, CNNInternational, CNN II, which then became headline news (HLN), and CNNEspañol.
After this he made and bought lots of new companies such as MGM (Metro Golden Mayor), TNT (Turner Network Television), TCM (Turner Classic Movies), and Cartoon Network. In 1996, everything started to change. TBS, the conglomerate under which all the smaller networks (CNN, TNT, MGM, etc.) are under merged with Time Warner. The newly formed company was called Time Warner. Time Warner was bought by AOL in 2001. Turner supported this decision but later said supporting it was one of the worst decisions of his life. Turner got into an argument with the CEO of AOLTime Warner and quit because of the pressure of management. He was fired from his own company.
Net Worth
According to Forbes Magazine Ted Turner net worth is $2.2 billion. He occupies the #307 position in the Forbes list of the 400 richest persons in the world.
Philanthropy
Some companies that he has supported include:
- Avoided Deforestation Partners
- Captain Planet Foundation
- Children's Cancer & Blood Foundation
- Children with AIDS
- Mines Advisory Group
- Nothing But Nets
- Nuclear Age Peace Foundation
- Rotary International
Fun Facts
- His third wife was a famous actress named Jane Fonda who stared in Monster in Law, Barefoot in the park, and Sunday in New York. They divorced in 2001.
- He has a street named after him a few blocks away from CNN in Atlanta, GA
- He was in the movie Gods and Generals, and he financed it.
- Turner gave the U.S. $31 Million to pay off a dept to the United Nations.
- Time Magazine named Turner man of the year in 1991
- He has a star on the Hollywood walk of fame.