# Ted Turner has died at 87 **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** movies\ **Created:** [May 6, 2026, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ted-turner-has-died-at-87/1029843 "2026-05-06T15:18:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Edward\_The\_Head](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ce73a5/32.png) [@Edward\_The\_Head](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Edward_The_Head)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2026, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ted-turner-has-died-at-87/1029843/1 "2026-05-06T15:18:05Z")
> **[CNN founder Ted Turner, a pioneer of cable TV news, dies at 87 | CNN](https://www.cnn.com/2026/05/06/us/ted-turner-death)** > > Ted Turner, the media maverick and philanthropist who founded CNN, a pioneering 24-hour network that revolutionized television news, died peacefully Wednesday, surrounded by his family, according to a news release from Turner Enterprises. He was 87. I haven’t watched CNN in years or the Turner movie channel. ---
**Author:** ![Tride](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tride/32/13907_2.png) [@Tride](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tride)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2026, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ted-turner-has-died-at-87/1029843/2 "2026-05-06T15:54:23Z")
It will be interesting to see if this has an impact on his massive land holdings here in Montana. I’m sure he has a rock solid succession plan. ---
**Author:** ![dolphinboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dolphinboy/32/330_2.png) [@dolphinboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dolphinboy)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2026, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ted-turner-has-died-at-87/1029843/3 "2026-05-06T15:58:24Z")
I also live in Montana and was thinking the same thing. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2026, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ted-turner-has-died-at-87/1029843/4 "2026-05-06T16:04:37Z")
> [@Edward\_The\_Head](#): > > I haven’t watched CNN in years or the Turner movie channel. To be fair, Turner hadn’t directly owned any of those channels since 1996 (when Turner Broadcasting merged with Time Warner), and Turner himself, who had remained as an officer with Time Warner, resigned as a Vice Chairman in 2003, and stepped down from the board of directors in 2006. I remember, when we first got cable TV in the early '80s, his very visible presence on cable, between what was then still “Superstation WTBS” and CNN. He was brash and charismatic, and he did a lot to shape what cable was in the 1980s. He was also the owner of the Atlanta Braves, and made headlines for making himself the on-field manager of the team (which lasted one game, before the president of the National League forced him to step down), and for having one of his players – Andy Messersmith – who wore jersey #17, wear the word “Channel” on the back of his jersey, rather than his name, as an ad for WTBS (this, too, only lasted for one game). [![](https://scontent-ord5-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t39.30808-6/495445731_695708696302615_5499205236641624737_n.jpg?stp=dst-jpg_p526x296_tt6&_nc_cat=108&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=13d280&_nc_ohc=lMU3OkZ4BkQQ7kNvwFqkejs&_nc_oc=AdrcfiNIEutD-jcwcZz9dLVxUIpqh1fRl71J225R0JwatOw5Pql8YIstSlNmtt5PmdFpEe0GEILJdlLQib8I3SYY&_nc_zt=23&_nc_ht=scontent-ord5-1.xx&_nc_gid=Y_D5j4fyrgbKNs7tnZgg0w&_nc_ss=7b2a8&oh=00_Af5-i8TGYxu7wGTlvt_Isr3f0Wt9xoTAdPFqw6gQbeLPFA&oe=6A0122C9) ](https://scontent-ord5-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t39.30808-6/495445731_695708696302615_5499205236641624737_n.jpg?stp=dst-jpg_p526x296_tt6&_nc_cat=108&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=13d280&_nc_ohc=lMU3OkZ4BkQQ7kNvwFqkejs&_nc_oc=AdrcfiNIEutD-jcwcZz9dLVxUIpqh1fRl71J225R0JwatOw5Pql8YIstSlNmtt5PmdFpEe0GEILJdlLQib8I3SYY&_nc_zt=23&_nc_ht=scontent-ord5-1.xx&_nc_gid=Y_D5j4fyrgbKNs7tnZgg0w&_nc_ss=7b2a8&oh=00_Af5-i8TGYxu7wGTlvt_Isr3f0Wt9xoTAdPFqw6gQbeLPFA&oe=6A0122C9) ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2026, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ted-turner-has-died-at-87/1029843/5 "2026-05-06T16:04:45Z")
So how big are his Montana holdings? ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2026, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ted-turner-has-died-at-87/1029843/6 "2026-05-06T16:07:02Z")
Only 87?? I’m 66. He should have been at least 97 by my internal “they’re rich and famous so they must be MUCH older than I am” gauge. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2026, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ted-turner-has-died-at-87/1029843/7 "2026-05-06T16:11:57Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > So how big are his Montana holdings? Various sources I’m finding say somewhere between 113,000 and 148,000 acres. He owned a _ton_ of land, across the U.S. and Argentina. Wikipedia indicates that he owned over 2 million acres of personal land and ranch land across North America. One of the things he used this land for was for bison ranching; he allegedly owned the largest bison herd in the world. (And, TIL that the “Ted” in the restaurant chain “Ted’s Montana Grill” was Turner.) ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2026, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ted-turner-has-died-at-87/1029843/8 "2026-05-06T16:26:38Z")
Around 200 sq. miles, Holy crap. That is like 200 of my town’s area. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2026, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ted-turner-has-died-at-87/1029843/9 "2026-05-06T20:08:00Z")
Or a block of land 10x20 miles. Which is the merest drop in the bucket of unoccupied land in any Western state. The scale of things in the US northeast vs the scale in the Far West is very, very different. So different as to be hard for anybody from one environment to grok the other. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2026, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ted-turner-has-died-at-87/1029843/10 "2026-05-06T22:33:08Z")
Ted Turner had been out of the public eye because he had Lewy body dementia, the same disease that killed Robin Williams. Some people also believed he was, in some way, behind the controversial and now-demolished Georgia Guidestones. He wasn’t. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2026, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ted-turner-has-died-at-87/1029843/11 "2026-05-06T22:53:26Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > Ted Turner had been out of the public eye because he had Lewy body dementia, the same disease that killed Robin Williams. My aunt has the disease, as well. Her speech became halting a few years ago, and now she might be able to say a single word every now and again. It’s terrible. (Also, technically, Lewy body dementia was “only” the indirect cause of Williams’ death; he took his own life due to its effects on him.) ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2026, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ted-turner-has-died-at-87/1029843/12 "2026-05-06T22:54:34Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > My aunt has the disease, as well. Her speech became halting a few years ago, and now she might be able to say a single word every now and again. It’s terrible. Is she with it mentally aside from language loss? I’m not familiar. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2026, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ted-turner-has-died-at-87/1029843/13 "2026-05-06T22:56:27Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > Is she with it mentally aside from language loss? It varies. Sometimes she seems to be very engaged when people are talking, and following along, and she is still really good at assembling jigsaw puzzles. But, other times, she seems to drift off, and I think that, overall, she’s become more limited mentally. ---
**Author:** ![N9IWP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/n9iwp/32/3154_2.png) [@N9IWP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/N9IWP)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2026, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ted-turner-has-died-at-87/1029843/14 "2026-05-06T23:40:53Z")
This piece of land is 920 square miles: > **[Vermejo Reserve](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vermejo_Reserve)** > > Vermejo Reserve is a 558,000-acre (226,000 ha) nature reserve and guest operation in northeastern New Mexico and southern Colorado. Also known as Vermejo Park Ranch, Ted Turner Reserves, the luxury hospitality company founded by Ted Turner, operates it as a center for conservation research and ecosystem restoration along with guest accommodations. The ranch, which stretches from the Great Plains at an elevation of 5,867 feet (1,788 m) to the summit of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, reaches a... Here is his reserve’s website > **[Ted Turner Reserves | Official Site](https://tedturnerreserves.com/)** > > Experience luxury nature vacations at Ted Turner Reserves. Explore vast, private landscapes, world-class accommodations, and unforgettable wildlife adventures. Brian ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2026, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ted-turner-has-died-at-87/1029843/15 "2026-05-06T23:42:27Z")
Turner was one of the most interesting personalities of the 20th century. Giant flaws and giant accomplishments. He may be forgotten today but any decent business historian will devote time to a serious look to his life. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2026, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ted-turner-has-died-at-87/1029843/16 "2026-05-06T23:48:23Z")
It’s very difficult to be part of a conversation if you don’t speak. You are left to live inside your head. And that itself causes some mental illness. I believe. Sad about Ted. Two of my favorite channels were directly created by him. I couldn’t live without TCM at this point. I’ve turned CNN off for the foreseeable future. I’m boycotting news channels 100%. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2026, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ted-turner-has-died-at-87/1029843/17 "2026-05-06T23:52:03Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > He may be forgotten today but any decent business historian will devote time to a serious look to his life. Absolutely. In the span of a little over a decade, he went from owning a billboard advertising company to building a cable TV empire, owning two professional sports teams, and winning the America’s Cup yacht competition. He was brash, irascible, and larger-than-life, but he also was a brilliant businessman and visionary. ---
**Author:** ![Tride](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tride/32/13907_2.png) [@Tride](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tride)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2026, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ted-turner-has-died-at-87/1029843/18 "2026-05-06T23:52:42Z")
Wow. That is truly huge (YUUGE) tracts of land. There are worse things you can do with your money, as we are witnessing. ---
**Author:** ![fedman1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e495f1/32.png) [@fedman1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fedman1)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2026, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ted-turner-has-died-at-87/1029843/19 "2026-05-06T23:58:55Z")
and who was married to Jane Fonda ---
**Author:** ![Moriarty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moriarty/32/49_2.png) [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2026, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ted-turner-has-died-at-87/1029843/20 "2026-05-07T01:21:11Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > Giant flaws Like colorizing classic movies, right? > **[‘Colorizers’: When Ted Turner and Hollywood Clashed Over Colorizing Classic...](https://www.mentalfloss.com/entertainment/movies/ted-turner-tbs-classic-movies-colorized)** > > The media mogul didn’t hesitate to alter classic movies: “The last time I checked, I owned the films.” > [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > giant accomplishments He did give the U.N. a _billion_ dollars > **[Ted Turner donated $1.3 billion to UN and global causes before death | The...](https://tribune.com.pk/story/2606774/ted-turner-donated-13-billion-to-un-and-global-causes-before-death?amp=1)** > > CNN founder Ted Turner donated $1.3B to the UN and global causes, leaving a major philanthropy legacy That gesture reportedly inspired people like Bill Gates and Warren Buffet to act similarly. > **[Ted Turner's Greatest Contribution Was Not CNN](https://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/414871/ted-turners-greatest-contribution-was-not-cnn.html)** > > ...or creating cable TV's "superstation" or saving the American bison. It was shaming the world's richest men into becoming its greatest philanthropists. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ted-turner-has-died-at-87/1029843.md?page=2)