On May 6, 2026 — the very date this article is published — the world lost one of its most singular personalities. Ted Turner, born Robert Edward Turner III on November 19, 1938 in Cincinnati, Ohio, passed away peacefully at his Florida home at the age of 87, surrounded by family. The CNN founder had battled Lewy body dementia since his public diagnosis in 2018 and had been hospitalized with pneumonia in early 2025 before a brief recovery. His death closes the chapter on a life that was nothing less than extraordinary.

Is Ted Turner Still Alive? The Passing of a Legend

Searches for “is Ted Turner still alive” have spiked dramatically today, and the answer — a sad one — is no. Ted Turner died on May 6, 2026 at age 87. He is survived by five children — Rhett Turner, Laura Turner Seydel, Jennie Turner Garlington, Teddy Turner, and Beau Turner — as well as 14 grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. His family released a statement through Turner Enterprises confirming that he passed away peacefully.

Turner had disclosed his Lewy body dementia diagnosis to CBS Sunday Morning in 2018, describing the progressive neurological disorder as leaving him “tired” and “exhausted,” with forgetfulness being his most troubling symptom. He spent his final years between Atlanta and his beloved Montana ranches, riding horses, fishing, and living the rugged outdoor life he had always treasured. In early 2025, he was hospitalized with pneumonia but recovered and was discharged to a rehabilitation facility.

“If Alexander the Great could conquer the known world, why couldn’t I start CNN?”

— Ted Turner, to Oprah Winfrey

Ted Turner Net Worth: A Fortune Built on Audacity

At the time of his death, Ted Turner’s net worth was estimated at approximately $2.8 billion by Forbes — still a staggering sum, though a fraction of the nearly $10 billion he once commanded. His financial story is one of the most dramatic in American business: an empire built from scratch, inflated to jaw-dropping heights, and then significantly diminished — yet never fully extinguished.

Turner inherited a modest $1 million billboard business — Turner Advertising Company — after his father’s suicide in 1963. He was just 24 years old. Rather than run it safely, he transformed it aggressively. He expanded into radio, then into UHF television, turning a struggling Atlanta station into what would become TBS — the first cable “superstation” distributed nationally via satellite. He bought the Atlanta Braves in 1976 to guarantee content for TBS, then launched CNN on June 1, 1980 from a converted country club in Atlanta.

In 1996, Turner Broadcasting was sold to Time Warner for $7.3 billion, making Turner one of the largest individual shareholders of Time Warner. But disaster struck in 2001: the catastrophic AOL-Time Warner merger wiped billions from his portfolio as stock prices collapsed. “I lost Jane. I lost my job here. I lost my fortune, most of it,” Turner famously told Piers Morgan. “Got a billion or two left. You can get by on that if you economize.” Despite this staggering reversal, Turner remained on the Forbes billionaires list until 2021 and returned to it by 2026, his land and ranch empire providing an irreplaceable store of value.

Ted Turner Ranch: The Last American Frontier

If CNN defined Turner’s public legacy, his ranches defined his soul. The question “how much land does Ted Turner own?” has a staggering answer: at his peak, Turner controlled approximately two million acres of land across eight U.S. states and Argentina, making him one of the largest private landowners in North America — surpassed eventually only by fellow media mogul John Malone.

Turner’s ranch portfolio included 14 properties, among them the iconic Flying D Ranch near Bozeman, Montana — a breathtaking 107,000-acre expanse of mountains, rivers, and grasslands that served as his personal sanctuary in his later years. His largest landholdings were in Nebraska, where he owned five properties totaling close to 450,000 acres. He was Nebraska’s largest private landholder.

Turner described his approach to land management through Turner Enterprises, Inc., whose mission was “to manage Turner lands in an economically sustainable and ecologically sensitive manner while promoting the conservation of native species.” His properties were managed not as trophy estates but as working ranches and conservation zones — habitats for elk, wolves, bison, pronghorn antelope, and dozens of other native species. The Flying D Ranch alone hosted mule deer, Rocky Mountain elk, gray wolves, moose, black bears, and mountain lions, alongside regular sightings of golden and bald eagles.

The Bison Mission: Saving an American Symbol

Turner’s most personal conservation mission was the restoration of the American bison. At 10 years old, he read that the species had been driven near extinction — from an estimated 30 million animals to fewer than 1,000 by the late 19th century. “I decided then that I would do what I could to help bring the bison back,” he said. He bought his first bison in 1967 and his first ranch in 1987, eventually building the world’s largest private bison herd of approximately 51,000 animals across 13 ranches.

In 2002, Turner turned his bison passion into business: he co-founded Ted’s Montana Grill with restaurateur George McKerrow Jr., a chain of restaurants serving signature bison dishes alongside classic American comfort food. The chain operated dozens of locations nationwide and embodied Turner’s environmental philosophy, incorporating waste-reduction strategies and clean-energy practices. In 2005, researchers at Texas A&M credited Turner’s donation of breeding bulls with helping restore the genetic diversity of the last herd of southern Plains bison.

“My life is more an adventure than a quest to make money. Adventure is going out and doing something for the pure hell of it.”

— Ted Turner

Ted Turner and Jane Fonda: Hollywood’s Unlikely Power Couple

No account of Ted Turner’s life is complete without examining one of American celebrity culture’s most fascinating relationships. In 1991, Turner — a conservative Southern billionaire and brash media mogul — married Jane Fonda, the Academy Award-winning actress, fitness icon, and left-wing political activist. The pairing seemed to defy logic. It turned out to be one of the great love stories of the era.

Turner and Fonda had first been photographed together at the 62nd Annual Academy Awards in March 1990, arriving as a couple and announcing their relationship to the world. Their romance developed quickly. Turner proposed and they married in 1991, the same year Time magazine named Turner its “Man of the Year” — in no small part because of CNN’s riveting live coverage of the Gulf War.

The marriage brought together two enormous personalities who shared a deep passion for environmentalism and wildlife. Together they co-founded the Georgia Campaign for Adolescent Power and Potential in 1995, an organization working to reduce teen pregnancy and empower young women in Georgia. At a November 2025 event, just months before Turner’s death, Fonda became emotional remembering Turner’s early support: “The charity never would have happened if it wasn’t for Ted. Had I not been with Ted — had he not stood by me with his love and support — we never would have survived.”

Yet despite their genuine love, the marriage carried inherent tensions. Turner needed constant companionship and moved relentlessly between his 28 properties. Fonda, approaching 60, felt she was losing herself. “I would never love anyone like I love him,” she said years later. “But I just couldn’t keep moving in his world, along the surface, for the rest of my life.” Their divorce was finalized in 2001 — the same year Turner lost his empire to the AOL-Time Warner implosion. In 2012, Turner told CNN that Fonda was “probably the great love of my life” and that he doubted he would ever fully get over her. Despite the divorce, the two remained on warm, affectionate terms, with Fonda calling him her “favorite ex-husband” and continuing to attend events together for the rest of his life.

All Three of Ted Turner’s Wives

Turner married and divorced three times. His first marriage was to Judy Gale Nye (1960–1964). He then married Jane Shirley Smith in 1965 and remained with her for 23 years, until their divorce in 1988. All five of his children — Rhett, Laura, Jennie, Teddy, and Beau — were born during the first two marriages. His third and final marriage, to Jane Fonda (1991–2001), produced no children but defined his personal life for a decade. Turner was not married at the time of his death.

How Old Was Ted Turner? Age, Birth, and Biography

Ted Turner was 87 years old at the time of his death on May 6, 2026. He was born Robert Edward Turner III on November 19, 1938 in Cincinnati, Ohio, to Robert Edward Turner II, a billboard executive, and Florence. The family moved to Savannah, Georgia, when Ted was a child, and he was sent to military school — an experience that shaped his fierce competitiveness and discipline. His father’s suicide in 1963, when Ted was just 24, was the pivotal trauma and catalyst of his life.

Where Was Ted Turner in His Final Years?

Those searching “where is Ted Turner today” in recent years would have found him largely retreated from public life, divided between his Atlanta home and his beloved Montana properties. After leaving the media business in the early 2000s, Turner pivoted entirely to his two great passions: conservation and philanthropy. He spent hundreds of thousands of miles per year on his private jet, visiting his 14 ranches, overseeing bison breeding programs, consulting for his foundations, and riding horses across his Montana wilderness.

Turner also threw himself into international diplomacy and nuclear security. In 2001, he co-founded the Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI) with former Senator Sam Nunn to address dangers posed by nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons. He created and continued to support the Captain Planet Foundation, inspired by the animated series he funded in 1990. And through the Turner Endangered Species Fund, he quietly worked to preserve native wildlife that few others paid attention to.

In his final public appearances, Turner was reflective and warm. He had signed Warren Buffett’s Giving Pledge, committing to donate the majority of his wealth. His children — all five of whom serve on the board of the Turner Foundation — have pledged to continue his conservation and philanthropic work.

Ted Turner’s Legacy: What He Left Behind

How does one measure a life like Ted Turner’s? He took a bankrupt billboard company and built a global media empire. He invented 24-hour cable news — a concept so audacious, industry insiders laughed at it — and it reshaped the world. He owned the Atlanta Braves during their 1995 World Series championship. He won the America’s Cup. He reversed the near-extinction of the American bison. He gave away a billion dollars to the United Nations. He wrote his own version of the Ten Commandments — called them “11 Voluntary Initiatives” and kept the card in his wallet. He married one of the most famous actresses on earth.

And yet, by most accounts, the thing Turner was most proud of was not CNN or his net worth or his sailing trophies. It was the land. The 2 million acres. The bison. The elk. The wolves. The rivers running clean through his Montana ranches. “His legacy will always be paired with CNN,” CBS News noted, “and yet the gift he seemed most proud of was the natural habitats he saved by buying and protecting more wild acreage than almost anyone in the U.S.”

“When you love somebody, and you really love ’em, you never stop loving ’em.”

— Ted Turner, on Jane Fonda, CNN 2012

Donald Trump, who had clashed with CNN across two decades, nonetheless mourned Turner in a public statement, remembering him as a broadcasting trailblazer. Veteran CNN journalist Christiane Amanpour — who spent over 40 years at the network Turner built — described him as a visionary who “created an unstoppable media revolution for the benefit of all humankind.” On the occasion of his death, messages from world leaders, environmental organizations, and media figures poured in from across the globe.

Ted Turner was eulogized well by his own words, from his 2008 memoir Call Me Ted: My Life, My Way. He once pondered what he would write on his own tombstone — and came up with the characteristically press-baiting line: “You Can’t Interview Me Here.” It is, in its own way, perfect. A joke. A dare. And a reminder that Ted Turner always controlled the story.