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As one of the most important figures in media history, he oversaw a vast cable empire of news, sports and entertainment channels.

Ted Turner, the bombastic television pioneer credited with creating the 24-hour news cycle and launched CNN in 1980, owned the Atlanta Braves and The Hawks, who flexed his influence among the global elite and donated a $1 billion to United Nations charities, and was married to Oscar-winner Jane Fonda, has died at age 87.

His sprawling legacy encompassed conservation, philanthropy and professional sports, and his bravado earned him the nickname “Mouth of the South.”

One of the most striking things about Turner’s audacity, though, was that he often used it to benefit other people. Also: He could be humble. While giving an interview to The New Yorker in 1988—the magazine’s reporter asked him about rumors of the apocalypse tape—Turner picked up a kaleidoscope from a nearby table and looked through it while making a point about his career arc and eventual environmental advocacy. “When I was younger, racing all over the world and having a ball, I didn’t think about the world situation,” he said. “I used to think everything was fine.” Then—peering, still, into the colors of the device—he described the founding of CNN and his gradual realization that he “needed to find out what was happening in the world. You know, what was really happening.”

Mr. Turner eventually sold his networks to Time Warner for nearly $7.5 billion and later exited the business, but never stopped identifying with what he had built. He called CNN the “greatest achievement” of his life — a striking statement from a man who also founded the United Nations Foundation, helped reintroduce bison to the American West and won the America’s Cup.

He returned home and took over the Atlanta-based family business, Turner Advertising Co., at age 24 following his father's death by suicide in March 1963. He ambitiously expanded to radio station ownership and then TV stations. The rise of CNN, which exploded to ubiquity with its wall-to-wall coverage of the 1991 Gulf War, made Turner a media megastar, earning him Time magazine's 1991 Man of the Year.

Ted Turner, the high-flying media tycoon, entrepreneur and philanthropist who founded CNN and revolutionized American cable television, died on Wednesday.

CNN founder Ted Turner, a media entrepreneur who launched the 24-hour cable news network in 1980, died Wednesday. He was 87.

“Ted Turner, one of the Greats of All Time, just died. He founded CNN, sold it, and was personally devastated by the Deal because the new ownership took CNN, his ‘baby,’ and destroyed it,” Trump wrote. “It became woke, and everything that he is not all about. Maybe the new buyers, wonderful people, will be able to bring it back to its former credibility and glory. Regardless, however, one of the Greats of Broadcast History, and a friend of mine. Whenever I needed him, he was there, always willing to fight for a good cause!”

Ted Turner, a brash and outspoken television pioneer who raced yachts, owned huge chunks of the American West and transformed the news business by launching CNN in 1980, has died at age 87.

Ted Turner, the television and media mogul who launched the first 24-hour cable news network and a roster of successful TV and entertainment brands, died on Wednesday, according to a news release from Turner Enterprises. He was 87. This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

AILSA CHANG, HOST: When the U.S. and Israel bomb Iran and start a war, we know about it moments after it started, sometimes even moments before. When Russian tanks cross the border into Ukraine, we watch as it is happening. When, after five decades, the U.S. returns to the moon, that feat is beamed around the world. This access to immediacy, our ability to be there as history is unfolding, much of that is possible thanks to the vision of CNN founder Ted Turner. Turner died this morning. He was 87 years old. Affectionately known as the Mouth of the South, he transformed the way the world got its news when he founded the 24/7 news network in 1980.

Ted Turner, the media mogul who founded CNN and presided over the outlet at it reshaped the cable news business, died on Wednesday at the age of 87. Turner began his career in the media business as an account executive with Turner Advertising Company in the 1970s and launched CNN in June of 1980. Regarded…

Ted Turner, the man who founded CNN — the first 24-hour news channel — in 1980, died Wednesday at age 87, of complications related to Lewy body dementia.

Ted Turner, the media mogul who founded CNN, has died at 87, CNN reported on Wednesday, citing a news release from Turner Enterprises.

Media mogul Ted Turner, who pioneered the modern 24-hour news culture when he launched the CNN channel, has died at the age of 87, the network has announced.