Ted Turner

@Brown University, Family and Childhood

Ted Turner is a media tycoon who founded the cable news network CNN

Nov 19, 1938

Bipolar DisorderAmericanBrown UniversityBusiness PeopleScorpio Celebrities
Biography

Personal Details

  • Birthday: November 19, 1938
  • Nationality: American
  • Famous: Brown University, Business People
  • Spouses: Jane Fonda
  • Known as: Robert Edward
  • Childrens: Jennie Turner, Rhett Turner
  • Universities:
    • Brown University
    • Brown University
    • The McCallie School

Ted Turner born at

Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S.

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Birth Place

He was married to Judy Nye from 1960 to 1964. His second marriage was to Jane Shirley Smith whom he wed in 1965 and divorced in 1988. He married actress Jane Fonda in 1991. This marriage ended in 2001. He has five children.

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Personal Life

He was the eldest son of Robert Edward Turner Jr. and Florence. His father was a successful businessman who owned Turner Advertising. In spite of being a good provider, Ted had a difficult childhood. Robert suffered from bipolar disorder and had extreme mood swings. He used to physically abuse Ted.

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Childhood & Early Life

His father went to serve in the Navy when World War II broke out and took his wife and daughter with him, leaving behind Ted. The young boy felt abandoned.

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Childhood & Early Life

He was sent to a boarding school at Cincinnati while his family was away. After returning from the war his father enrolled him at the Georgia Military Academy.

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Childhood & Early Life

He enrolled in Brown University in 1956 where his major was economics. However, he was expelled from the university for having a woman in his dormitory room.

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Childhood & Early Life

He joined his father’s business after being thrown out of the university. His father made him the assistant manager of Turner Advertising’s Atlanta branch. His company had taken huge debts and the pressure of it affected his father’s health.

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Career

Suffering from bipolar disorder and unable to cope with the financial burdens, his father committed suicide in 1963 leaving Ted, just 24, as in charge of the indebted company.

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Career

Ted threw himself in the work partly to deal with his grief and partly because of his ambitions. Soon the company paid off its debts and started registering good profits. By the late 1960s his company had grown a lot.

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Career

After dealing in radio stations, he expanded into television and purchased a failing UHF station in Atlanta. He renamed his company to Turner Communications and renamed the station to WTCG. Initially he ran old movies and cartoons on the station.

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Career

By the mid 1970s FCC regulations started permitting cable television services to transmit programming from remote stations. In 1976, the WTCG-TV Superstation began to broadcast old movies, comedy reruns, cartoons and sports specials nationwide to subscribers. The viewership of his channel grew manifold and soon he had 2 million subscribers and his net worth reached $100 million.

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Career

He is the founder of the 24-hour news channel CNN, the first all-news television channel in the United States. The channel has numerous affiliates and is available in over 100 million U.S. households.

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Major Works

He is a philanthropist who plays an active role in the United Nations Association. He donated $1 billion to the United Nations for creating the United Nations Foundation and serves on its board of directors.

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Major Works