Ted Turner, the media entrepreneur who fundamentally reshaped global television journalism by founding CNN, the world's first 24-hour cable news network, has died. He was 87. Turner died peacefully on Wednesday, surrounded by his family, according to a statement from Turner Enterprises, as reported by CNN. His family confirmed he had been battling Lewy body dementia, a progressive brain disorder he had disclosed publicly in 2018. On June 1, 1980, Turner launched CNN, the first 24-hour, all-news cable network, a gamble that upended the broadcast establishment at a time when television news was

Ted Turner, the media entrepreneur who fundamentally reshaped global television journalism by founding CNN, the world's first 24-hour cable news network, has died. He was 87.

Turner died peacefully on Wednesday, surrounded by his family, according to a statement from Turner Enterprises, as reported by CNN. His family confirmed he had been battling Lewy body dementia, a progressive brain disorder he had disclosed publicly in 2018.

On June 1, 1980, Turner launched CNN, the first 24-hour, all-news cable network, a gamble that upended the broadcast establishment at a time when television news was confined to scheduled bulletins.

The model proved transformative, most visibly during the Gulf War in 1991, when CNN's live battlefield reporting became the world's shared window into the conflict, a moment that cemented the network's global authority and demonstrated the power of continuous coverage during breaking international events.

That influence extended well beyond the United States. Across Africa, CNN became many viewers' primary window into world affairs during the 1990s and 2000s, shaping the continent's appetite for rolling international news and influencing a generation of African broadcasters who built their own 24-hour operations in its image.

Turner turned the Turner Broadcasting System into a media behemoth, establishing the "superstation" concept and launching channels including TBS, TNT, Cartoon Network and Turner Classic Movies.

Turner was also a sports figure himself, winning the America's Cup and owning the Atlanta Braves when they won the World Series. Beyond sport, he was widely recognized for his philanthropy. He donated a record $1 billion to create the United Nations Foundation, one of the largest individual charitable donations ever made at the time.

His generosity did not stop there: he created the Nuclear Threat Initiative to secure loose nuclear weapons in the former Soviet republics and gave widely to conservation and anti-global warming efforts, a giving record that helped inspire the Giving Pledge later championed by Warren Buffett and Bill Gates.

Born Robert Edward Turner III in Cincinnati on November 19, 1938, he was nicknamed "The Mouth of the South" for his blunt public persona. Turner was named Time magazine's Man of the Year in 1991.

Tributes came swiftly from within the industry he built. "Ted was an intensely involved and committed leader, intrepid, fearless and always willing to back a hunch and trust his own judgment," said CNN Chairman and CEO Mark Thompson. "He was and always will be the presiding spirit of CNN."

His former rival Rupert Murdoch also issued a statement, saying Turner's "impact as a trailblazer has left an indelible mark on our cultural landscape."

Turner's legacy endures in the continuous, real-time news cycle he pioneered, one defined by immediacy, global reach, and the principle, as his staff recalled, that the news is the star.

A little more informed. A little more connected.