Ted Turner leaves massive legacy to 5 children after death at 87
Ted Turner leaves massive legacy to 5 children after death at 87
Taijuan Moorman and Bryan Alexander, USA TODAY Wed, May 6, 2026 at 4:50 PM UTC
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Ted Turner's legacy as a businessman and outspoken environmentalist will continue after his death at 87.
Turner died "surrounded by his family" Wednesday, May 6, his company Turner Enterprises announced in a news release obtained by USA TODAY. The mogul, who used his massive media fortune to uplift causes, including United Nations refugee and children programs and conservation efforts, is survived by his five children, fourteen grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.
The maverick businessman earned his fortune by turning a financially struggling Atlanta TV station into a media empire around CNN, the first 24-hour cable news station, as well as his celebrated ownership of the Atlanta Braves and Atlanta Hawks.
Here's who Turner is leaving his legacy to, and just how much the late business titan was worth upon his death.
Ted Turner, maverick media mogul and CNN founder, dies at 87
Was Ted Turner married?
Ted Turner was not married at the time of his death. The businessman was married three times: to Judy (Nye) Turner in the '60s, with whom he had daughter Laura and son Robert Edward "Teddy" IV; Jane Smith Turner from 1964 to 1980, with whom he had his three remaining children, Beau, Rhett and Jennie; and, perhaps most famously, to actress Jane Fonda, from 1991 to 2001.
After his failed marriages, of which Turner would express regret, the businessman at one point reportedly had four girlfriends. He joked to Piers Morgan, during a 2012 interview on CNN, that he maintained the "complicated" arrangement "with great difficulty."
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Ted Turner's children followed in his footsteps
Environmentalist Laura Turner Seydel, left, and United Nations Foundation CEO Kathy Calvin attend the Social Good Summit at the 92nd Street Y on Sept. 27, 2015 in New York City.
Most of Turner's children have followed in his philanthropic and conservationist footsteps.
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Laura Turner Seydel, his oldest, is an environmental activist and works as the chair of the Captain Planet Foundation, among other organizations and nonprofit boards, including those of her parents.
Robert Edward "Teddy" Turner IV has worked in various parts of the Turner business, including in television production, before working in yachting brokerage. He currently teaches economics and serves on various organization boards, including his mother's Jane Smith Turner Foundation. He also made an unsuccessful run for Congress in 2013.
Ted Turner, Laura Turner Seydel and John R. Seydel attend UNICEF's Evening for Children First to Honor Ted Turner on March 30, 2016, in Atlanta.
Beau Turner's work includes serving in various leadership roles that continue his father's environmental and wildlife conservation efforts, including as chairman of the board of trustees for the Turner Endangered Species Fund.
Rhett Turner continues the conversationist legacy through photography and documentary filmmaking through his film production company.
And the environmentalist work of Jennie Turner Garlington, his youngest child, has included serving as trustee of the Turner Foundation, on the boards of other wildlife conservation organizations and as a CNN TV producer for the network's now-defunct Environment Unit.
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Ted Turner net worth
The CNN logo stands outside the venue of the second Democratic 2020 U.S. presidential candidates debate, in the Fox Theater in Detroit, Michigan, U.S., July 30, 2019.
Ted Turner's net worth was valued at $2.5 billion upon his death, according to Forbes.
The mogul infamously lost $8 billion in the disastrous AOL-Time Warner merger in 2001 amid the dot-com crash. He has also willingly given much of his fortune away, including $1 billion toward United Nations programming and environmental causes funded through his Turner Foundation.
His wealth primarily sits in landownership, as he is the second-largest individual landowner in North America, owning approximately two million acres of land across eight U.S. states and Argentina. The land is managed by Turner Enterprises with the goal of governing in "an economically sustainable and ecologically sensitive manner while promoting the conservation of native species."
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Ted Turner family – His marriages and 5 children, net worth
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
