Ted Turner, outspoken founder of CNN, dies at 87

Ted Turner, the brash sportsman and entrepreneur whose ambition and instincts led to a media empire that included groundbreaking news network CNN, has died, CNN reported on Wednesday citing a press release from Turner Enterprises. He was 87. No cause of death was given. In September 2018 Turner revealed that he had Lewy body dementia, a degenerative nerve disease. One nickname was not enough for a personality as roguish and bold as Turner's. He was known variously as the "Mouth of the South," "Captain Outrageous," and "Terrible Ted." He became ⁠a billionaire by taking over his father's billboard business, buying a television station in 1970 and parlaying that into what would become a vast ground-breaking television group. Ted Turner attends official CNN Launch event at CNN Techwood Drive World Headquarters in Atlanta Georgia, June 1, 1980. Rick Diamond | Archive Photos | Turner became one of the most powerful figures in U.S. media and entertainment, his networks specializing in news, sports, re-runs, and old movies. But he did not stop ​there. He added the MGM/UA movie studio to his portfolio before making ​an even bigger move — merging his Turner Broadcasting System with Time Warner ​in 1996. Turner headed the new company's cable networks division and was its leading shareholder, but he had trouble fitting into a corporate system after decades of free-wheeling as his own boss. He eventually lost control of his networks. …