R obert Edward "Ted" Turner III is a visionary and iconoclastic American media mogul who revolutionized the television industry. After inheriting his father's billboard advertising company, he pivoted into media by acquiring a small Atlanta television station in 1970. He transformed this station into a 'superstation' by beaming its signal to cable systems across the country via satellite, a groundbreaking move at the time. His most audacious and transformative creation came in 1980 when he launched the Cable News Network (CNN), the world's first 24-hour all-news television channel, an idea that was widely mocked at the time but which went on to change how news is consumed globally.

He built a media empire that also included the channels TBS, TNT, and Cartoon Network, as well as the film studio Castle Rock Entertainment. In 1996, he sold his company, Turner Broadcasting System, to Time Warner (now Warner Bros. Discovery) for $7.5 billion, becoming the media giant's largest shareholder. A larger-than-life figure known for his outspoken personality and his passion for sailing (he won the 1977 America's Cup), he has since become one of America's largest private landowners and a major philanthropist, most notably through his $1 billion gift to create the United Nations Foundation.