Robert Edward (Ted) Turner - Academy of Achievement

<!doctype html> <html lang="en-US" prefix="og: http://ogp.me/ns#"> <head><script type="text/javascript" src="/_static/js/bundle-playback.js?v=HxkREWBo" charset="utf-8"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="/_static/js/wombat.js?v=txqj7nKC" charset="utf-8"></script> <script>window.RufflePlayer=window.RufflePlayer||{};window.RufflePlayer.config={"autoplay":"on","unmuteOverlay":"hidden"};</script> <script type="text/javascript" src="/_static/js/ruffle/ruffle.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript"> __wm.init("https://web.archive.org/web"); __wm.wombat("http://www.achievement.org:80/achiever/ted-turner","20190102091545","https://web.archive.org/","web","/_static/", "1546420545"); </script> <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="/_static/css/banner-styles.css?v=S1zqJCYt" /> <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="/_static/css/iconochive.css?v=3PDvdIFv" />  <meta charset="utf-8"> <meta http-equiv="x-ua-compatible" content="ie=edge"> <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1"> <link rel="apple-touch-icon-precomposed" sizes="57x57" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190102091545im_/http://www.achievement.org/wp-content/themes/aoa/assets/images/favicon/apple-touch-icon-57x57.png"/> <link rel="apple-touch-icon-precomposed" sizes="114x114" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190102091545im_/http://www.achievement.org/wp-content/themes/aoa/assets/images/favicon/apple-touch-icon-114x114.png"/> <link rel="apple-touch-icon-precomposed" sizes="72x72" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190102091545im_/http://www.achievement.org/wp-content/themes/aoa/assets/images/favicon/apple-touch-icon-72x72.png"/> <link rel="apple-touch-icon-precomposed" sizes="144x144" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190102091545im_/http://www.achievement.org/wp-content/themes/aoa/assets/images/favicon/apple-touch-icon-144x144.png"/> <link rel="apple-touch-icon-precomposed" sizes="60x60" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190102091545im_/http://www.achievement.org/wp-content/themes/aoa/assets/images/favicon/apple-touch-icon-60x60.png"/> <link rel="apple-touch-icon-precomposed" sizes="120x120" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190102091545im_/http://www.achievement.org/wp-content/themes/aoa/assets/images/favicon/apple-touch-icon-120x120.png"/> <link rel="apple-touch-icon-precomposed" sizes="76x76" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190102091545im_/http://www.achievement.org/wp-content/themes/aoa/assets/images/favicon/apple-touch-icon-76x76.png"/> <link rel="apple-touch-icon-precomposed" sizes="152x152" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190102091545im_/http://www.achievement.org/wp-content/themes/aoa/assets/images/favicon/apple-touch-icon-152x152.png"/> <link rel="icon" type="image/png" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190102091545im_/http://www.achievement.org/wp-content/themes/aoa/assets/images/favicon/favicon-196x196.png" sizes="196x196"/> <link rel="icon" type="image/png" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190102091545im_/http://www.achievement.org/wp-content/themes/aoa/assets/images/favicon/favicon-96x96.png" sizes="96x96"/> <link rel="icon" type="image/png" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190102091545im_/http://www.achievement.org/wp-content/themes/aoa/assets/images/favicon/favicon-32x32.png" sizes="32x32"/> <link rel="icon" type="image/png" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190102091545im_/http://www.achievement.org/wp-content/themes/aoa/assets/images/favicon/favicon-16x16.png" sizes="16x16"/> <link rel="icon" type="image/png" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190102091545im_/http://www.achievement.org/wp-content/themes/aoa/assets/images/favicon/favicon-128.png" sizes="128x128"/> <meta name="application-name" content="Academy of Achievement"/> <meta name="msapplication-TileColor" content="#000000"/> <meta name="msapplication-TileImage" content="http://www.achievement.org/wp-content/themes/aoa/assets/images/favicon/mstile-144x144.png"/> <meta name="msapplication-square70x70logo" content="http://www.achievement.org/wp-content/themes/aoa/assets/images/favicon/mstile-70x70.png"/> <meta name="msapplication-square150x150logo" content="http://www.achievement.org/wp-content/themes/aoa/assets/images/favicon/mstile-150x150.png"/> <meta name="msapplication-wide310x150logo" content="http://www.achievement.org/wp-content/themes/aoa/assets/images/favicon/mstile-310x150.png"/> <meta name="msapplication-square310x310logo" content="http://www.achievement.org/wp-content/themes/aoa/assets/images/favicon/mstile-310x310.png"/> <link href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190102091545cs_/https://fonts.googleapis.com/css?family=Source+Sans+Pro:400,600,400italic,600italic,700,700italic" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css"> <title>Robert Edward (Ted) Turner - Academy of Achievement</title>  <meta name="description" content="When Ted Turner entered the broadcasting business in 1970, there was no cable television as we know it. Viewers in most markets made do with three channels at most, with one national news broadcast a day. Turner took a failing UHF station in Atlanta, Georgia and sent it by satellite to fledgling cable television operators around the country, creating the first superstation. Then he did what the old networks and news media considered impossible: he created the first all-news television station, CNN, and pioneered the live broadcasting of breaking news from around the globe, allowing the whole world to experience history in the making. A fierce and courageous competitor, Turner personally dominated the sport of sailboat racing in the 1970s, winning the America's Cup in 1977 and overcoming a deadly storm to triumph in the Fastnet Race of 1979. He continued to make his mark on the sports world as owner of the Atlanta Braves baseball team, winners of the 1995 World Series, five National League pennants and 14 consecutive division championships, an all-time record. One of the most colorful and unpredictable characters in the history of American business, he is also a philanthropist of unprecedented generosity. In the 1990s, he single-handedly paid a billion-dollar debt his country owed the United Nations in back dues. Having achieved historic successes in the world of business, he has now turned his attention and resources to the causes of world peace and nuclear disarmament."/> <link rel="canonical" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190102091545/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/ted-turner/"/> <meta property="og:locale" content="en_US"/> <meta property="og:type" content="article"/> <meta property="og:title" content="Robert Edward (Ted) Turner - Academy of Achievement"/> <meta property="og:description" content="<p class="inputTextFirst">When Ted Turner entered the broadcasting business in 1970, there was no cable television as we know it. Viewers in most markets made do with three channels at most, with one national news broadcast a day. Turner took a failing UHF station in Atlanta, Georgia and sent it by satellite to fledgling cable television operators around the country, creating the first superstation. Then he did what the old networks and news media considered impossible: he created the first all-news television station, CNN, and pioneered the live broadcasting of breaking news from around the globe, allowing the whole world to experience history in the making.</p> <p class="inputText">A fierce and courageous competitor, Turner personally dominated the sport of sailboat racing in the 1970s, winning the America's Cup in 1977 and overcoming a deadly storm to triumph in the Fastnet Race of 1979. He continued to make his mark on the sports world as owner of the Atlanta Braves baseball team, winners of the 1995 World Series, five National League pennants and 14 consecutive division championships, an all-time record.</p> <p class="inputText">One of the most colorful and unpredictable characters in the history of American business, he is also a philanthropist of unprecedented generosity. In the 1990s, he single-handedly paid a billion-dollar debt his country owed the United Nations in back dues. Having achieved historic successes in the world of business, he has now turned his attention and resources to the causes of world peace and nuclear disarmament.</p>"/> <meta property="og:url" content="https://web.archive.org/web/20190102091545/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/ted-turner/"/> <meta property="og:site_name" content="Academy of Achievement"/> <meta property="og:image" content="https://web.archive.org/web/20190102091545im_/http://www.achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/turner-Feature-Image-2800x1120.jpg"/> <meta property="og:image:width" content="2800"/> <meta property="og:image:height" content="1120"/> <meta name="twitter:card" content="summary"/> <meta name="twitter:description" content="<p class="inputTextFirst">When Ted Turner entered the broadcasting business in 1970, there was no cable television as we know it. Viewers in most markets made do with three channels at most, with one national news broadcast a day. Turner took a failing UHF station in Atlanta, Georgia and sent it by satellite to fledgling cable television operators around the country, creating the first superstation. Then he did what the old networks and news media considered impossible: he created the first all-news television station, CNN, and pioneered the live broadcasting of breaking news from around the globe, allowing the whole world to experience history in the making.</p> <p class="inputText">A fierce and courageous competitor, Turner personally dominated the sport of sailboat racing in the 1970s, winning the America's Cup in 1977 and overcoming a deadly storm to triumph in the Fastnet Race of 1979. He continued to make his mark on the sports world as owner of the Atlanta Braves baseball team, winners of the 1995 World Series, five National League pennants and 14 consecutive division championships, an all-time record.</p> <p class="inputText">One of the most colorful and unpredictable characters in the history of American business, he is also a philanthropist of unprecedented generosity. In the 1990s, he single-handedly paid a billion-dollar debt his country owed the United Nations in back dues. Having achieved historic successes in the world of business, he has now turned his attention and resources to the causes of world peace and nuclear disarmament.</p>"/> <meta name="twitter:title" content="Robert Edward (Ted) Turner - Academy of Achievement"/> <meta name="twitter:image" content="https://web.archive.org/web/20190102091545im_/http://www.achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/turner-Feature-Image-2800x1120.jpg"/> <script type="application/ld+json">{"@context":"https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20190102091545\/http:\/\/schema.org","@type":"WebSite","@id":"#website","url":"https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20190102091545\/http:\/\/www.achievement.org\/","name":"Academy of Achievement","alternateName":"A museum of living history","potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":"https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20190102091545\/http:\/\/www.achievement.org\/search\/{search_term_string}","query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}}</script> <script 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<div class="feature-area__text-inner text-white"> <h2 class="serif-8 feature-area__text-subhead back"><a href="/web/20190102091545/http://www.achievement.org/achiever">All achievers</a></h2> <h1 class="serif-1 entry-title feature-area__text-headline">Robert Edward (Ted) Turner</h1> <h5 class="sans-6 feature-area__blurb">Founder, Cable News Network</h5> </div> </figcaption> </div> </div> </figure> </header> </div>  <nav class="in-page-nav row fixedsticky"> <ul class="nav text-xs-center clearfix" role="tablist"> <li class="nav-item col-xs-3"> <a class="nav-link active" data-toggle="tab" href="#biography" role="tab" data-gtm-category="tab" data-gtm-action="click" data-gtm-label="Achiever Biography">Biography</a> </li> <li class="nav-item col-xs-3"> <a class="nav-link" data-toggle="tab" href="#profile" role="tab" data-gtm-category="tab" data-gtm-action="click" data-gtm-label="Achiever Profile">Profile</a> </li> <li class="nav-item col-xs-3"> <a class="nav-link" data-toggle="tab" href="#interview" role="tab" data-gtm-category="tab" data-gtm-action="click" data-gtm-label="Achiever Interview">Interview</a> </li> <li class="nav-item col-xs-3"> <a class="nav-link" data-toggle="tab" href="#gallery" role="tab" data-gtm-category="tab" data-gtm-action="click" data-gtm-label="Achiever Gallery">Gallery</a> </li> </ul> </nav> <article class="post-3233 achiever type-achiever status-publish has-post-thumbnail hentry careers-entrepreneur"> <div class="entry-content container clearfix">  <div class="tab-content"> <div class="tab-pane fade in active" id="biography" role="tabpanel"> <section class="achiever--biography"> <div class="row"> <header class="editorial-article__header col-md-8 col-md-offset-2 text-xs-center"> <i class="icon-icon_bio text-brand-primary"></i> <h3 class="serif-3 quote-marks">It was probably crazy. Take a local station, put it on the satellite. And there were regulations against it...But we were able to convince Congress that it would be good for business, because it would create competition to the three networks where there was none before.</h3> </header> </div> <div class="row"> <aside class="col-md-4 sidebar clearfix"> <h2 class="serif-3 p-b-1">Media Mogul & Philanthropist</h2> <div class="col-xs-12 sidebar--chunk p-b-2"> <dt class="serif-7">Date of Birth</dt> <dd class="sans-2"> November 19, 1938 </dd> </div> </aside> <article class="editorial-article col-md-8"> <!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/loose.dtd"> <html><body><figure id="attachment_12499" style="width: 507px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><noscript><img class="wp-image-12499 size-full " src="https://web.archive.org/web/20190102091545im_/http://162.243.3.155/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/tur0-012-turner.jpg"></noscript><img class="wp-image-12499 size-full lazyload" alt="Ted Turner, a teenage cadet at the McCallie School." width="507" height="580" data-sizes="(max-width: 507px) 100vw, 507px" data-srcset="/web/20190102091545im_/http://www.achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/tur0-012-turner.jpg 507w, /web/20190102091545im_/http://www.achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/tur0-012-turner-332x380.jpg 332w" data-src="https://web.archive.org/web/20190102091545/http://162.243.3.155/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/tur0-012-turner.jpg"><figcaption class="wp-caption-text">Ted Turner as a teenage cadet at the McCallie School.</figcaption></figure><p class="p1"><span class="s1">Robert Edward Turner III was born in Cincinnati, Ohio. From an early age, he was called Ted, while his father, Robert Edward Turner, Jr., was known as Ed. While Ed Turner served in the Navy during World War II, the family followed him to his Gulf Coast post, but young Ted was left behind in a boarding school in Cincinnati. When Ted was nine, Ed Turner moved the family to Savannah, Georgia, where he purchased a small billboard company he renamed Turner Advertising. Ted attended Georgia Military Academy, near Atlanta. Discipline in the Turner household was always strict. At his father’s insistence, Ted worked from an early age, learning every aspect of the outdoor advertising business, from maintenance to finance. But Ted Turner’s childhood was not all work. The family business prospered, and Ed rewarded his son with the gift of a sailing dinghy. At age nine, he began sailing and soon developed a passion for sailboat racing. By age 11, he was competing in the junior regatta of the Savannah Yacht Club.</span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1">At 12, Ted Turner was sent to the McCallie School in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Although he balked at the school’s discipline in his first years there, he later emerged as a leader among his classmates, winning the Tennessee debating championship. He continued to work in the billboard business during the summers, and by the end of his teens had become an extremely effective salesman. At Brown University, he studied classics, and enjoyed reading military history. He was suspended from Brown on two occasions for breaking dormitory rules, but eventually received his degree.</span></p> <figure id="attachment_12500" style="width: 512px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><noscript><img class="wp-image-12500 size-full " src="https://web.archive.org/web/20190102091545im_/http://162.243.3.155/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/tur0-13-turner.jpg"></noscript><img class="wp-image-12500 size-full lazyload" alt="Ted Turner and his father, Robert Edward Turner, Jr., at Ted's wedding in 1960." width="512" height="646" data-sizes="(max-width: 512px) 100vw, 512px" data-srcset="/web/20190102091545im_/http://www.achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/tur0-13-turner.jpg 512w, /web/20190102091545im_/http://www.achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/tur0-13-turner-301x380.jpg 301w" data-src="https://web.archive.org/web/20190102091545/http://162.243.3.155/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/tur0-13-turner.jpg"><figcaption class="wp-caption-text">1960: Ted Turner and his father, Robert Edward Turner, Jr., at Ted’s wedding. His father committed suicide in 1963, leaving Ted Turner, at 24, in charge of a growing but indebted enterprise. He soon stabilized the business.</figcaption></figure><p class="p1"><span class="s1">He returned to Georgia and his father’s business, and was soon married. The marriage did not last long, and Ted’s life was further darkened by the death of his sister, after a long and painful illness. Ted threw himself into his work, and his father promoted him to assistant manager of Turner Advertising’s Atlanta branch. Meanwhile, the firm took on large amounts of debt to buy out a competitor. Ed Turner’s health was failing, and the pressures of the merger proved too much for him. In 1963, he took his own life, leaving Ted Turner, at 24, in charge of a growing, but heavily indebted enterprise. He worked day and night, offering customers a discount for early payment, to increase the amount of cash on hand. Soon, he had stabilized the business and was building a large fortune. Ted Turner married again, but continued to devote most of his time to business, staying in the office for days on end. By the end of the decade, Turner Advertising was the largest billboard company in the Southeast, but Ted Turner recognized that his customers were allocating ever-larger shares of their advertising budgets to radio and television, and he sought opportunities in broadcasting.</span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1">At the time, the television business was dominated by three major networks, each with its own local affiliate in the major regional markets. Only the largest cities could support a fourth or fifth station. Cable television was still in its infancy, with a scattered handful of operators providing service to remote areas, beyond the reach of network affiliate stations. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) had opened a new range of ultra-high frequencies (UHF) for television broadcasting, but few television viewers knew how to receive UHF transmission. After investing in a number of radio stations, Turner purchased a failing UHF station in Atlanta. He changed the name of his firm to Turner Communications Group, and renamed the station WTCG. He quickly added a second UHF station in Charlotte, North Carolina. Both stations were hemorrhaging money, but Turner moved boldly ahead. He began buying old movies, and TV shows, securing the broadcast rights outright, so he could show them over and over without paying royalties. Soon, his stations were breaking even.</span></p> <figure id="attachment_12494" style="width: 2280px" class="wp-caption alignright"><noscript><img class="wp-image-12494 size-full " src="https://web.archive.org/web/20190102091545im_/http://162.243.3.155/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/tur0-006-turner-Turner-Ted-AP-AP760414054.jpg"></noscript><img class="wp-image-12494 size-full lazyload" alt="Ted Turner sports an Indian headdress at the Atlanta Braves' 1976 home opener, Turner's first season as team owner. (AP Images)" width="2280" height="2901" data-sizes="(max-width: 2280px) 100vw, 2280px" data-srcset="/web/20190102091545im_/http://www.achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/tur0-006-turner-Turner-Ted-AP-AP760414054.jpg 2280w, /web/20190102091545im_/http://www.achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/tur0-006-turner-Turner-Ted-AP-AP760414054-299x380.jpg 299w, /web/20190102091545im_/http://www.achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/tur0-006-turner-Turner-Ted-AP-AP760414054-597x760.jpg 597w" data-src="https://web.archive.org/web/20190102091545/http://162.243.3.155/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/tur0-006-turner-Turner-Ted-AP-AP760414054.jpg"><figcaption class="wp-caption-text">Turner sports an Indian headdress at the Atlanta Braves’ 1976 home opener, Turner’s first season as team owner.</figcaption></figure><p class="p1"><span class="s1">In 1972, a change in FCC regulations offered Turner an opportunity he leapt at. For the first time, it permitted cable television services to transmit programming from remote stations. Turner used microwave transmitters to relay his WTCG signal to cable operators in rural areas and found a ready audience for his programming. At the end of 1975, RCA launched the SATCOM II communications satellite, and Turner was one of the first to rent a channel. From a huge broadcasting dish in an isolated hollow, he broadcast his WTCG signal to the satellite, which then beamed the signal to cable stations all over the United States. At the time, it seemed an unlikely proposition: a local UHF station beaming black-and-white reruns to households thousands of miles away, but television audiences were hungry for more choices. The following year, Turner bought the Atlanta Braves baseball team, and began broadcasting its games live. At the end of the year, Turner bought a controlling interest in the Atlanta Hawks basketball team as well, and added its games to his broadcast line-up. The combination of live sports, reruns of rural-themed sitcoms, old movies and professional wrestling won the station a national audience. Turner renamed his satellite channel WTBS — for Turner Broadcasting System — and dubbed it the world’s first superstation.</span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1">As owner of the Braves, Turner was attracting a great deal of publicity, much of it negative, for his contentious dealings with rival team owners and baseball commissioner Bowie Kuhn. After a particularly heated argument, Kuhn suspended Turner for the 1977 baseball season, barring him from the team’s offices and dugout. An avid sailor who had already won numerous races, Turner entered his yacht, <i>Courageous</i>, in the 1977 America’s Cup competition. Although <i>Courageous</i> was an older, less technically advanced craft than others in the race, Turner handily defeated his American competitors, earning the right to defend the Cup against the world’s challenger. The final was held in rough seas, but once again, Turner prevailed.</span></p> <figure id="attachment_12496" style="width: 2089px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><noscript><img class="wp-image-12496 size-full " src="https://web.archive.org/web/20190102091545im_/http://162.243.3.155/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/tur0-008-turner-Turner-sailing-AP.jpg"></noscript><img class="wp-image-12496 size-full lazyload" alt="Ted Turner at the helm of Courageous, the yacht he sailed to victory in the 1977 America's Cup race. (Photo by George Silk/Time Life Pictures/Getty Images)" width="2089" height="3104" data-sizes="(max-width: 2089px) 100vw, 2089px" data-srcset="/web/20190102091545im_/http://www.achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/tur0-008-turner-Turner-sailing-AP.jpg 2089w, /web/20190102091545im_/http://www.achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/tur0-008-turner-Turner-sailing-AP-256x380.jpg 256w, /web/20190102091545im_/http://www.achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/tur0-008-turner-Turner-sailing-AP-511x760.jpg 511w" data-src="https://web.archive.org/web/20190102091545/http://162.243.3.155/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/tur0-008-turner-Turner-sailing-AP.jpg"><figcaption class="wp-caption-text">Ted Turner at the helm of <em>Courageous</em>, the yacht he sailed to victory in the 1977 America’s Cup race. (Photo by George Silk/Time Life Pictures/and Getty Images)</figcaption></figure><p class="p1"><span class="s1">In the midst of this triumph, Turner’s public behavior was subjected to relentless press criticism. Sportswriters, seizing on his outspoken personality, lampooned him as “the mouth from the South.” But Turner was soon to prove that he was not only a fiercely competitive sportsman, but an unusually courageous one. His seamanship underwent its ultimate test in 1979, when he entered a newer boat, <i>Tenacious</i>, in the Fastnet race. This course runs from Plymouth, England, around Fastnet Rock off the coast of Ireland, and back again. Turner’s was one of 302 boats to enter the race that year. In mid-race, a horrendous storm broke. Numerous boats capsized and sank, and 22 lives were lost at sea. At one point it appeared that <i>Tenacious</i> too would be swallowed by the sea, but Turner refused to abandon ship, and came in first of the 92 boats that finally completed the course. The 1979 Fastnet has gone down as one of the deadliest ocean races in history, and Turner’s victory has become a legend. The national governing body for the sport of sailboat racing, US Sailing, named him Yachtsman of the Year four times (1970, ’73, ’77 and ’79), a unique honor.</span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1">In 1980, Turner sold his Charlotte television station and used the proceeds to launch his most ambitious venture yet, a 24-hour all-news channel. Broadcast professionals and the news media dismissed the notion as hopelessly impractical. The networks already ran news and talk shows every morning, in addition to their flagship dinnertime news broadcasts. Network affiliates ran local news for a half-hour at the end of the evening. That, most insiders reasoned, was all the television news the world needed. Turner pressed ahead with his Cable News Network (CNN) and added a second channel, CNN Headline News, in 1982. Turner’s cable news ventures struggled, but he persevered, undeterred by criticism. By 1985, CNN was showing a profit and Turner expanded the service with CNN Radio and CNN International.</span></p> <figure id="attachment_12495" style="width: 2280px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><noscript><img class="wp-image-12495 size-full " src="https://web.archive.org/web/20190102091545im_/http://162.243.3.155/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/tur0-007-turner-Turner-Ted-Getty-50468411_10.jpg"></noscript><img class="wp-image-12495 size-full lazyload" alt="Ted Turner, in his Atlanta office, 1991. The placques on his desk bear his favorite maxim, "Either Lead, Follow or Get Out of the Way." (Photo by Ted Thai/Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images)" width="2280" height="1526" data-sizes="(max-width: 2280px) 100vw, 2280px" data-srcset="/web/20190102091545im_/http://www.achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/tur0-007-turner-Turner-Ted-Getty-50468411_10.jpg 2280w, /web/20190102091545im_/http://www.achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/tur0-007-turner-Turner-Ted-Getty-50468411_10-380x254.jpg 380w, /web/20190102091545im_/http://www.achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/tur0-007-turner-Turner-Ted-Getty-50468411_10-760x509.jpg 760w" data-src="https://web.archive.org/web/20190102091545/http://162.243.3.155/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/tur0-007-turner-Turner-Ted-Getty-50468411_10.jpg"><figcaption class="wp-caption-text">1991: Turner in his Atlanta office. The plaque has his favorite maxim, “Either Lead, Follow or Get Out of the Way.”</figcaption></figure><p class="p1"><span class="s1">By this time, Turner was a billionaire, and was increasingly interested in deploying his wealth on behalf of worthy causes. In 1985, he founded the Better World Society, to campaign for nuclear disarmament. Some of the flamboyant impulsiveness of his youth had abated, but his second marriage was over. As always, Ted Turner concentrated on nurturing new enterprises. Ever alert to new developments in broadcasting technology, he equipped CNN crews with “flyaway” dishes, portable satellite transmission equipment, so they could report on breaking news, live from anywhere in the world, rather than shipping news film or videotape from remote locations to a permanent television station.</span></p> <figure id="attachment_12491" style="width: 266px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><noscript><img class="wp-image-12491 size-full " src="https://web.archive.org/web/20190102091545im_/http://162.243.3.155/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/tur0-003.jpg"></noscript><img class="wp-image-12491 size-full lazyload" alt="Ted Turner at a 1985 press conference, announcing the creation of the Goodwill Games. (© Robert Maass/CORBIS)" width="266" height="396" data-sizes="(max-width: 266px) 100vw, 266px" data-srcset="/web/20190102091545im_/http://www.achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/tur0-003.jpg 266w, /web/20190102091545im_/http://www.achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/tur0-003-255x380.jpg 255w" data-src="https://web.archive.org/web/20190102091545/http://162.243.3.155/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/tur0-003.jpg"><figcaption class="wp-caption-text">Ted Turner at a 1985 press conference, announcing the creation of the international Goodwill Games. (CORBIS)</figcaption></figure><p class="p1"><span class="s1">In 1986, Turner purchased MGM Entertainment Company. To the business world’s astonishment, he quickly sold it back to the previous owner, retaining nothing but the studio’s film library. To many observers, it seemed like an utterly capricious and wrong-headed move, one that immediately cost Turner $100 million, but within the year, his film library had earned $125 million. Newly available home video technology had created an enormous market for films on videotape. The catalogue Turner had acquired from MGM included not only classic MGM films, but the libraries of United Artists, Warner Bothers and RKO, everything from classics like <i>Gone With the Wind</i> and <i>Casablanca</i> to forgotten B-pictures and short subjects from the ’20s through the ’60s. Turner employed a new process to add color to a number of old black-and-white films, a practice that outraged purists but boosted videotape sales of many of the films in the collection.</span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1">The 1980s were a period of heightened international tension, following the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. After the United States boycotted the 1980 Olympics in Moscow, and the Soviet Union boycotted the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles, Ted Turner approached the Soviet government himself, offering to sponsor a series of international Goodwill Games, to foster athletic excellence and good sportsmanship in an atmosphere free of the politics that had marred the Olympics. Turner promoted Goodwill Games in Moscow in 1986, Seattle in 1990, and in St. Petersburg, Russia in 1994. It is estimated that he lost $110 million dollars on these games, but they played an appreciable role in reducing tensions between the superpowers in the waning days of the Cold War.</span></p> <figure id="attachment_12498" style="width: 2280px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><noscript><img class="wp-image-12498 size-full " src="https://web.archive.org/web/20190102091545im_/http://162.243.3.155/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/tur0-010-turner-Turner-Ted-getty-time-cover-53376395_10.jpg"></noscript><img class="wp-image-12498 size-full lazyload" alt="1991 TIME Man of the Year, media mogul Ted Turner. (Photo by Gregory Heisler/Time Magazine/Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images)" width="2280" height="3084" data-sizes="(max-width: 2280px) 100vw, 2280px" data-srcset="/web/20190102091545im_/http://www.achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/tur0-010-turner-Turner-Ted-getty-time-cover-53376395_10.jpg 2280w, /web/20190102091545im_/http://www.achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/tur0-010-turner-Turner-Ted-getty-time-cover-53376395_10-281x380.jpg 281w, /web/20190102091545im_/http://www.achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/tur0-010-turner-Turner-Ted-getty-time-cover-53376395_10-562x760.jpg 562w" data-src="https://web.archive.org/web/20190102091545/http://162.243.3.155/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/tur0-010-turner-Turner-Ted-getty-time-cover-53376395_10.jpg"><figcaption class="wp-caption-text">1991: <em>TIME</em> Man of the Year, media mogul Ted Turner. (Gregory Heisler/Time Magazine/Time & Life Pictures/Getty)</figcaption></figure><p class="p1"><span class="s1">CNN, long derided by traditional news sources, proved itself a powerful force in 1989 when a million young Chinese demonstrated for democracy in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square. Turner’s crews, with their portable gear, broadcast the events live. When the Chinese army suppressed the movement violently, CNN’s cameras revealed the confrontation to a horrified world instantaneously. CNN even broadcast the closing of its own broadcast site by Chinese authorities. In the summer of 1990, Iraq, led by Saddam Hussein, invaded and occupied the neighboring, oil-rich kingdom of Kuwait. The world held its breath that winter, as diplomatic efforts to resolve the crisis failed, and an international coalition prepared for war. While other networks broadcast from safety, behind allied lines, CNN crews continued to report from Baghdad, even after hostilities had begun, beaming live images of the attack on Baghdad, while the bombs fell around them. Hailed as the “scoop of the century,” it was a transformative moment in the history of broadcasting, and made CNN the talk of the world. Later in 1991, Turner married well-known film actress and political activist Jane Fonda. The same year, Turner’s Atlanta Braves won their division title, the beginning of an unmatched 14-year winning streak (excepting only the 1994 season, when a players’ strike interrupted division play). At year’s end <i>Time</i> magazine named Ted Turner its “Man of the Year.”</span></p> <figure id="attachment_12492" style="width: 1708px" class="wp-caption alignright"><noscript><img class="wp-image-12492 size-full " src="https://web.archive.org/web/20190102091545im_/http://162.243.3.155/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/tur0-004-turner-Turner-Ted-AP-AP96101601291.jpg"></noscript><img class="wp-image-12492 size-full lazyload" alt="Ted Turner and Jane Fonda cheer on the Atlanta Braves during the 1996 National League Championship series. (AP Images/Dave Martin)" width="1708" height="1790" data-sizes="(max-width: 1708px) 100vw, 1708px" data-srcset="/web/20190102091545im_/http://www.achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/tur0-004-turner-Turner-Ted-AP-AP96101601291.jpg 1708w, /web/20190102091545im_/http://www.achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/tur0-004-turner-Turner-Ted-AP-AP96101601291-363x380.jpg 363w, /web/20190102091545im_/http://www.achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/tur0-004-turner-Turner-Ted-AP-AP96101601291-725x760.jpg 725w" data-src="https://web.archive.org/web/20190102091545/http://162.243.3.155/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/tur0-004-turner-Turner-Ted-AP-AP96101601291.jpg"><figcaption class="wp-caption-text">Ted Turner and Jane Fonda cheer on the Atlanta Braves during the 1996 National League Championship series.</figcaption></figure><p class="p1"><span class="s1">In 1992, after purchasing the animation studio Hanna-Barbera, with its catalogue of popular children’s programming, Turner launched the Cartoon Network, another cable offering that has become a fixture in homes around the world. The following year, he added the motion picture companies Castle Rock Entertainment and New Line Cinema to Turner Broadcasting’s portfolio, further expanding his library of films and adding motion picture production capability. Any hard feelings Turner may have spurred among film buffs with his colorization project were more than mollified in 1994, when Turner founded a new cable channel, Turner Classic Movies (TCM), to show old and new films, uncut, uninterrupted and commercial-free, 24 hours a day. All films are shown in their original format: black-and-white films in black-and-white, widescreen films in their original aspect ratio. TCM has also acquired a formidable reputation for original documentaries and for its film restoration and preservation efforts.</span></p> <figure id="attachment_12497" style="width: 2280px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><noscript><img class="wp-image-12497 size-full " src="https://web.archive.org/web/20190102091545im_/http://162.243.3.155/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/tur0-009-turner.jpg"></noscript><img class="wp-image-12497 size-full lazyload" alt="Ted Turner on his ranch near Bozeman, Montana, 1991. (Photo by Ted Thai/Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images)" width="2280" height="1688" data-sizes="(max-width: 2280px) 100vw, 2280px" data-srcset="/web/20190102091545im_/http://www.achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/tur0-009-turner.jpg 2280w, /web/20190102091545im_/http://www.achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/tur0-009-turner-380x281.jpg 380w, /web/20190102091545im_/http://www.achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/tur0-009-turner-760x563.jpg 760w" data-src="https://web.archive.org/web/20190102091545/http://162.243.3.155/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/tur0-009-turner.jpg"><figcaption class="wp-caption-text">Ted Turner on his ranch near Bozeman, Montana, 1991. (Photo by Ted Thai/Time & Life Pictures/and Getty Images)</figcaption></figure><p class="p1"><span class="s1">By mid-decade, Ted Turner had become the largest private landowner in the United States, with ranch properties exceeding a million acres, greater than the area of the states of Delaware and Rhode Island. In Montana, he began a long-term project of returning thousands of acres to their natural state, re-introducing the endangered North American bison to the plains it had once ruled. In 1995, Turner’s Atlanta Braves won the World Series. The following year brought a momentous change to the media landscape, when Turner Broadcasting merged with multimedia conglomerate Time Warner. Ted Turner became Time Warner’s largest individual shareholder, and served the parent company as Vice Chairman, with responsibility for cable television. The company’s share price soared, and within nine months of the merger, Ted Turner’s personal fortune had increased by another billion dollars.</span></p> <figure id="attachment_12490" style="width: 560px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><noscript><img class="wp-image-12490 size-full " src="https://web.archive.org/web/20190102091545im_/http://162.243.3.155/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/tur0-002-turner.jpg"></noscript><img class="wp-image-12490 size-full lazyload" alt="Ted Turner on his Montana buffalo ranch. He is the country's largest landowner, apart from the federal government. (© Louie Psihoyos/CORBIS)" width="560" height="400" data-sizes="(max-width: 560px) 100vw, 560px" data-srcset="/web/20190102091545im_/http://www.achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/tur0-002-turner.jpg 560w, /web/20190102091545im_/http://www.achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/tur0-002-turner-380x271.jpg 380w" data-src="https://web.archive.org/web/20190102091545/http://162.243.3.155/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/tur0-002-turner.jpg"><figcaption class="wp-caption-text">Turner on his Montana buffalo ranch. He is the country’s largest landowner, apart from the federal government.</figcaption></figure><p class="p1"><span class="s1">Over the previous decade, Turner had played an active role in the United Nations Association. For several years in a row, the United States Congress refused to appropriate funds for paying the country’s dues to the United Nations. When the arrears approached a billion dollars, Turner stunned the world by paying the shortfall out of his own pocket. In 2001, Turner and a fellow Georgian, former U.S. Senator Sam Nunn, organized the Nuclear Threat Initiative, a nonpartisan international organization, dedicated to reducing the risk posed by nuclear arms and other weapons of mass destruction. The year was a difficult one for Ted Turner. His ten-year marriage to Jane Fonda ended, and in a startling development, Time Warner was acquired by Internet provider America Online. Turner’s share in the merged company, renamed AOL Time Warner, was sharply reduced. The merger proved an awkward one, and the company’s name soon reverted to Time Warner. Turner led a reorganization effort in the company but was passed over for the chairmanship. In 2003, he resigned his post as Vice Chairman. In four decades, Ted Turner had transformed the world of telecommunications and brought the nations of the world closer together, through his broadcasting business ventures and his philanthropies. Through the Nuclear Threat Initiative and the Turner Foundation, he now concentrates his considerable energies on defending life on Earth from the multiple threats posed by environmental degradation and weapons of mass destruction.</span></p></body></html> <div class="clearfix"> </div> </article> </div> </section> </div> <div class="tab-pane fade" id="profile" role="tabpanel"> <section class="clearfix"> <header class="editorial-article__header"> <figure class="text-xs-center"> <img class="inductee-badge" src="/web/20190102091545im_/http://www.achievement.org/wp-content/themes/aoa/assets/images/inducted-badge@2x.png" alt="Inducted Badge" width="120" height="120"/> <figcaption class="serif-3 text-brand-primary"> Inducted in 1984 </figcaption> </figure> </header> <div class="row"> <aside class="col-md-4 sidebar"> <dl class="clearfix m-b-0"> <div class="col-xs-12 sidebar--chunk p-b-2"> <dt class="serif-7">Career</dt> <dd class="sans-2"> <div><a href="/web/20190102091545/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/#filter=.entrepreneur">Entrepreneur</a></div> </dd> </div> <div class="col-xs-12 sidebar--chunk p-b-2"> <dt class="serif-7">Date of Birth</dt> <dd class="sans-2"> November 19, 1938 </dd> </div> </dl> </aside> <article class="col-md-8 editorial-article clearfix"> <p class="inputTextFirst">When Ted Turner entered the broadcasting business in 1970, there was no cable television as we know it. Viewers in most markets made do with three channels at most, with one national news broadcast a day. Turner took a failing UHF station in Atlanta, Georgia and sent it by satellite to fledgling cable television operators around the country, creating the first superstation. Then he did what the old networks and news media considered impossible: he created the first all-news television station, CNN, and pioneered the live broadcasting of breaking news from around the globe, allowing the whole world to experience history in the making.</p> <p class="inputText">A fierce and courageous competitor, Turner personally dominated the sport of sailboat racing in the 1970s, winning the America’s Cup in 1977 and overcoming a deadly storm to triumph in the Fastnet Race of 1979. He continued to make his mark on the sports world as owner of the Atlanta Braves baseball team, winners of the 1995 World Series, five National League pennants and 14 consecutive division championships, an all-time record.</p> <p class="inputText">One of the most colorful and unpredictable characters in the history of American business, he is also a philanthropist of unprecedented generosity. In the 1990s, he single-handedly paid a billion-dollar debt his country owed the United Nations in back dues. Having achieved historic successes in the world of business, he has now turned his attention and resources to the causes of world peace and nuclear disarmament.</p> </article> </div> </section> </div> <div class="tab-pane fade" id="interview" role="tabpanel"> <section class="clearfix"> <div class="col-md-12 interview-feature-video"> <figure> <div class="embed-responsive embed-responsive-16by9"> <iframe class="embed-responsive-item embed-responsive--has-thumbnail" width="200" height="150" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20190102091545if_/https://www.youtube.com/embed/0BqDM4UGGtk?feature=oembed&autohide=1&hd=1&color=white&modestbranding=1&rel=0&showinfo=0&theme=light&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> <div class="embed-responsive__thumbnail ratio-container__image lazyload" data-sizes="auto" data-bgset="/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/Turner-Ted-2007-HDCAM-1of2-Orig.00_09_57_11.Still002-380x214.jpg [(max-width:576px)] | /wp-content/uploads/2016/06/Turner-Ted-2007-HDCAM-1of2-Orig.00_09_57_11.Still002-760x428.jpg"></div> <div class="video-tag sans-4"> <i class="embed-responsive__play icon-icon_play-full text-brand-primary"></i> <div class="video-tag__text">Watch full interview</div> </div> </div> </figure> </div> <header class="col-md-12 text-xs-center m-b-2"> <i class="icon-icon_bio text-brand-primary"></i> </header> <aside class="col-md-4 sidebar"> <h2 class="serif-3 achiever--biography-subtitle">Media Mogul & Philanthropist</h2> <div class="sans-2">Washington, D.C.</div> <div class="sans-2">October 20, 2007</div> </aside> <article class="editorial-article col-md-8">   <div class="achiever__interview-copy"> <p class="p1"><span class="s1"><b>Let’s talk about your early days in broadcasting. In 1975, RCA’s Satcom II was launched, and you immediately hopped on it. What were you thinking, to get into satellite broadcasting so fast?</b></span></p> </div>     <div class="achiever__video-block"> <figure class="achiever__interview-video"> <div class="embed-responsive embed-responsive-16by9"> <iframe class="embed-responsive-item embed-responsive--has-thumbnail" width="200" height="150" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20190102091545if_/https://www.youtube.com/embed/VN9Zl4kRXXg?feature=oembed&autohide=1&hd=1&color=white&modestbranding=1&rel=0&showinfo=0&theme=light&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> <div class="embed-responsive__thumbnail ratio-container__image lazyload" data-sizes="auto" data-bgset="/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/Turner-Ted-2007-HDCAM-1of2-Orig.00_44_56_00.Still003-380x214.jpg [(max-width:576px)] | /wp-content/uploads/2016/06/Turner-Ted-2007-HDCAM-1of2-Orig.00_44_56_00.Still003-760x428.jpg"></div> <i class="embed-responsive__play icon-icon_play-full text-brand-primary"></i> </div> </figure>  <div class="achiever__interview-video__copy"> <p class="p1">Ted Turner:<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>I read the broadcasting magazines, and they wrote several stories about Home Box Office, and they planned to go on the satellite with their pay movie service and try and get cable systems to sign up, and it required a large receiver.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Everybody thought at the time — it cost close to $100,000 — and that was going to really restrict a number of cable systems that were going to be able to afford a satellite dish. But very quickly, we learned that you could get by with smaller dishes than that.</p> </div> </div>      <div class="achiever__interview-copy"> <p class="p1"><span class="s1">The technology changed and started evolving very rapidly. It really had, ever since television got started, or since the industrial revolution. Technology has moved generally faster and faster in certain areas where technology is important.</span></p> </div>     <div class="achiever__video-block"> <figure class="achiever__interview-video"> <div class="embed-responsive embed-responsive-16by9"> <iframe class="embed-responsive-item embed-responsive--has-thumbnail" width="200" height="150" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20190102091545if_/https://www.youtube.com/embed/upcboKAIv_0?feature=oembed&autohide=1&hd=1&color=white&modestbranding=1&rel=0&showinfo=0&theme=light&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> <div class="embed-responsive__thumbnail ratio-container__image lazyload" data-sizes="auto" data-bgset="/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/Turner-Ted-2007-HDCAM-1of2-Orig.01_06_08_11.Still005-380x214.jpg [(max-width:576px)] | /wp-content/uploads/2016/06/Turner-Ted-2007-HDCAM-1of2-Orig.01_06_08_11.Still005-760x428.jpg"></div> <i class="embed-responsive__play icon-icon_play-full text-brand-primary"></i> </div> <figcaption class="achiever__interview-video-terms"> <span>Keys to success —</span> <a class="comma-item" href="/web/20190102091545/http://www.achievement.org/keys-to-success/preparation/">Preparation</a> </figcaption> </figure>  <div class="achiever__interview-video__copy"> <p class="p1">There are certain things, like growing radishes, that technology hasn’t really changed very much, but television, I feel like it was a pretty high tech business.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Certainly it was in the early days of television, and I just kept up with what was going on technologically and took advantage of the new equipment and new ways of doing things from the very beginning. In business, or in life — or in military engagements, which I’d studied a lot — it’s the old saying, “Get there firstest with the mostest,” and so forth. And that’s what I tried to do in business, and I did, because the record speaks for itself. I started with virtually nothing.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>In 1970, which was my first year in the television business, we had 35 employees at the station in Atlanta, and we did $600,000 in business. Thirty-five employees.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>When I merged with Time Warner in 1995, which was 25 years later, we had 12,000 employees, and we did two-and-a-half billion dollars.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Instead of losing a million dollars, which we did the first year, we made close to $250 million profit, and that was in 25 years.</p> </div> </div>      <div class="achiever__interview-copy"> <p class="p1"><span class="s1"><b>You did something right! Tell us about your vision for the first superstation. A lot of people thought that was just crazy.</b></span></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s2">Ted Turner: I can certainly understand how they could think that.</span></p> </div>     <div class="achiever__video-block"> <figure class="achiever__interview-video"> <div class="embed-responsive embed-responsive-16by9"> <iframe class="embed-responsive-item embed-responsive--has-thumbnail" width="200" height="150" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20190102091545if_/https://www.youtube.com/embed/eUbhH8q_PX0?feature=oembed&autohide=1&hd=1&color=white&modestbranding=1&rel=0&showinfo=0&theme=light&start=0&end=62&version=3" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> <div class="embed-responsive__thumbnail ratio-container__image lazyload" data-sizes="auto" data-bgset="/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/Turner-Ted-2007-HDCAM-1of2-Orig.00_25_45_18.Still009-380x214.jpg [(max-width:576px)] | /wp-content/uploads/2016/06/Turner-Ted-2007-HDCAM-1of2-Orig.00_25_45_18.Still009-760x428.jpg"></div> <i class="embed-responsive__play icon-icon_play-full text-brand-primary"></i> </div> <figcaption class="achiever__interview-video-terms"> <span>Keys to success —</span> <a class="comma-item" href="/web/20190102091545/http://www.achievement.org/keys-to-success/vision/">Vision</a> </figcaption> </figure>  <div class="achiever__interview-video__copy"> <p class="p1">It was probably crazy. Take a local station, put it on the satellite. And there were regulations against it, but they changed the regulations, and I started lobbying.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>A lot of the battles that we fought in the television business were fought, to a large degree, in Washington, against the networks, the broadcasters, against the motion picture studios, and against the sports leagues that didn’t want us to take our little station and take the programming and run it all over the country and basically create a national network that was based on local programming. But we were able to convince Congress that it would be good for business, because it would create competition to the three networks where there was none before.</p> </div> </div>      <div class="achiever__interview-copy"> <!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/loose.dtd"> <html><body><figure id="attachment_12493" style="width: 2280px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><noscript><img class="wp-image-12493 size-full " src="https://web.archive.org/web/20190102091545im_/http://162.243.3.155/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/tur0-005-turner-Turner-Ted-AP-AP070322020390.jpg"></noscript><img class="wp-image-12493 size-full lazyload" alt="Ted Turner surveys an empty Atlanta Stadium in 1976, shortly after buying the Braves baseball team. Today, the Braves play in a newer stadium, known as Turner Field. (AP Images/Charles E. Kelly)" width="2280" height="1414" data-sizes="(max-width: 2280px) 100vw, 2280px" data-srcset="/web/20190102091545im_/http://www.achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/tur0-005-turner-Turner-Ted-AP-AP070322020390.jpg 2280w, /web/20190102091545im_/http://www.achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/tur0-005-turner-Turner-Ted-AP-AP070322020390-380x236.jpg 380w, /web/20190102091545im_/http://www.achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/tur0-005-turner-Turner-Ted-AP-AP070322020390-760x471.jpg 760w" data-src="https://web.archive.org/web/20190102091545/http://162.243.3.155/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/tur0-005-turner-Turner-Ted-AP-AP070322020390.jpg"><figcaption class="wp-caption-text">Ted Turner surveys an empty Atlanta Stadium in 1976, shortly after buying the Braves baseball team. (AP Photo)</figcaption></figure><p class="p1"><span class="s1"><b>You must have really had to believe in yourself. There were scoffers saying, “This is crazy. Nobody will ever want to watch this.”</b></span></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s2">Ted Turner: Nobody will ever want to watch it? Why wouldn’t they want to watch it? If they wanted to watch it in Atlanta, why wouldn’t they want to watch it in Seattle?</span></p></body></html> </div>     <div class="achiever__video-block"> <figure class="achiever__interview-video"> <div class="embed-responsive embed-responsive-16by9"> <iframe class="embed-responsive-item embed-responsive--has-thumbnail" width="200" height="150" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20190102091545if_/https://www.youtube.com/embed/XQn3xjhB0Tg?feature=oembed&autohide=1&hd=1&color=white&modestbranding=1&rel=0&showinfo=0&theme=light&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> <div class="embed-responsive__thumbnail ratio-container__image lazyload" data-sizes="auto" data-bgset="/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/Turner-Ted-2007-HDCAM-1of2-Orig.00_44_56_00.Still003-380x214.jpg [(max-width:576px)] | /wp-content/uploads/2016/06/Turner-Ted-2007-HDCAM-1of2-Orig.00_44_56_00.Still003-760x428.jpg"></div> <i class="embed-responsive__play icon-icon_play-full text-brand-primary"></i> </div> </figure>  <div class="achiever__interview-video__copy"> <p>We had been running movies and situation comedies like <i>Andy Griffith</i> and <i>Green Acres</i>, off network. We had off-network stuff, and very quickly, I got the Braves baseball. So we had baseball games on, where very few markets — only the biggest markets that had local baseball teams — had local coverage. Most of America only got a Saturday afternoon game on NBC, and all of a sudden, here was a complete slate of 150 baseball games, most of them in primetime. So people in Nebraska and North Dakota and South Dakota, Hawaii and Alaska could have a team to cheer for that they never had before. No, it was good programming. We carried wrestling, and people liked that. Wrestling, baseball, basketball and movies and some other sporting events that we could get our hands on. We had a very, very viable, popular network there.</p> </div> </div>      <div class="achiever__interview-copy"> <p class="p1"><span class="s1">And it eventually started making money. It took a long time. I was so poor for a long time. Nielsen wouldn’t give us the ratings for several years. I had to threaten to sue them to rate us. So we didn’t even have ratings, and we didn’t show up in the rating books because we didn’t meet the minimum requirements. The only way I could tell what our audience was is the things that we sold on the air.</span></p> </div>     <div class="achiever__video-block"> <figure class="achiever__interview-video"> <div class="embed-responsive embed-responsive-16by9"> <iframe class="embed-responsive-item embed-responsive--has-thumbnail" width="200" height="150" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20190102091545if_/https://www.youtube.com/embed/zrIkRqSgrZc?feature=oembed&autohide=1&hd=1&color=white&modestbranding=1&rel=0&showinfo=0&theme=light&start=0&end=85&version=3" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> <div class="embed-responsive__thumbnail ratio-container__image lazyload" data-sizes="auto" data-bgset="/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/Turner-Ted-2007-HDCAM-1of2-Orig.01_14_34_22.Still006-380x214.jpg [(max-width:576px)] | /wp-content/uploads/2016/06/Turner-Ted-2007-HDCAM-1of2-Orig.01_14_34_22.Still006-760x428.jpg"></div> <i class="embed-responsive__play icon-icon_play-full text-brand-primary"></i> </div> <figcaption class="achiever__interview-video-terms"> <span>Keys to success —</span> <a class="comma-item" href="/web/20190102091545/http://www.achievement.org/keys-to-success/perseverance/">Perseverance</a> </figcaption> </figure>  <div class="achiever__interview-video__copy"> <p>We didn’t have hardly any commercials — regular commercials like Procter & Gamble or Budweiser or Coca-Cola. They didn’t buy us because we weren’t — for the most part, they wouldn’t buy us because we didn’t have ratings and we were too small. But we were able to sell records and tapes and Crazy Glue and things like that. People would mail — usually they would mail a check for $19.95 in, plus shipping and handling. What I would do is to see where they came from, and I would separate the letters. The letters from Atlanta would go here, and the letters from outside of Atlanta would go over here, and if I got 100 letters in Atlanta and I got 200 outside of Atlanta, I figured the audience was twice as big outside of Atlanta as it was inside of Atlanta. While I was going through these letters — I swear to God, this is the truth — it turns out that about one out of ten letters — the Post Office department was real sloppy, and they wouldn’t stamp them. You know? It was a used postage stamp. So I would tear those postage stamps off, and we’d use them again on our outgoing mail to save money. The Chairman of the Board was up there pulling the stamps off the letters. That’s a funny story, isn’t it?</p> </div> </div>      <div class="achiever__interview-copy"> <p class="p1"><span class="s1">And for 20 years, I lived in my office.</span></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s2"><b>Lived in it?</b></span></p> </div>     <div class="achiever__video-block"> <figure class="achiever__interview-video"> <div class="embed-responsive embed-responsive-16by9"> <iframe class="embed-responsive-item embed-responsive--has-thumbnail" width="200" height="150" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20190102091545if_/https://www.youtube.com/embed/tl31nQ2n5iw?feature=oembed&autohide=1&hd=1&color=white&modestbranding=1&rel=0&showinfo=0&theme=light&start=0&end=78&version=3" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> <div class="embed-responsive__thumbnail ratio-container__image lazyload" data-sizes="auto" data-bgset="/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/Turner-Ted-2007-HDCAM-1of2-Orig.00_51_33_14.Still007-380x214.jpg [(max-width:576px)] | /wp-content/uploads/2016/06/Turner-Ted-2007-HDCAM-1of2-Orig.00_51_33_14.Still007-760x428.jpg"></div> <i class="embed-responsive__play icon-icon_play-full text-brand-primary"></i> </div> </figure>  <div class="achiever__interview-video__copy"> <p class="p1">Ted Turner:<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>I lived in my office.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>I lived on a couch in my office for ten years, and then luckily, I got wealthy enough to build a little penthouse on the roof — 700 square feet — and I moved up there.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>It was a lot nicer.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>I just walked up the stairs one floor.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>My office was on the top floor, and I just walked up to go to bed, and that way, I had another hour to work every day, because when I walked downstairs, I was instantly in my office without having to fight traffic.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>So I was able to work an hour. I went to the games at night, and I’d get home at 11:00.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>I’d come back in the office, and I was right there: 7:00 when I woke up, to be at work at 8:00.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>I worked 18 hours a day, seven days a week. I liked it.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>I mean almost.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Sometimes I’d go home to see my wife and family. I still live in my office.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>I live up above in a penthouse over my office building in Atlanta.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>The restaurant is down on the ground floor.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>So if I’m hungry, I just go down to the restaurant and eat and get a meal and then go back up, and I’m right there.</p> </div> </div>      <div class="achiever__interview-copy"> <p class="p1"><span class="s1"><b>That says something about your work ethic.</b></span></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s2">Ted Turner: I did find time to race in hundreds of sailboat races all over the world, but I stayed busy. I have to say that.</span></p> </div>    <aside class="collapse" id="full-interview">    <div class="achiever__interview-copy"> <!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/loose.dtd"> <html><body><p><strong>What motivated you to create CNN?</strong></p> <p>Ted Turner: Before I even had the superstation on the satellite, I was thinking. Cable was brand new, and technically, it only had 12 channels. Four or five of them would be broadcast stations, and they’d bring in other broadcast stations with a tall antenna, but except for HBO, it didn’t have any other programming until WTBS came along. I read all the magazines, and it said cable was going to get more channels. They were going to go from 12 channels to 30 channels. They basically could have unlimited channels eventually. This was in the middle ’70s. I bought the station in January of 1970, merged it, and we didn’t go on the satellite until 1976. So this was ’75. I said, “What would be something else that people would want to see?” I thought about a full time sports channel, but I said “Nah! Full time sports channel during the day? What would they run during the daytime?” They could run reruns of games, but who really wants to see reruns of a game that took place two years ago? So I thought, and ESPN filled that niche, but they were several years later. So I said that won’t work.</p> <p>I said, “Obviously, a movie station will work 24 hours a day,” and HBO was already planning to go up there, and they went up about a year before we did. The superstation was the second channel to go on the satellites, after HBO. I said, “24-hour movies, that will clearly work.” And I thought. I said, “You know, 24-hour news would work, too. That would probably be the next channel,” because we only had the news for a couple hours a day then. The <em>CBS Morning News</em> and <em>Today Show</em> ran for two hours from seven to nine, and then the next network newscast wasn’t until seven at night, and it was only 30 minutes long. Then there was a local newscast at 11:00. I never got home until eight o’clock or after, and I always went to bed at ten. There was no ten o’clock newscasts, because there were no independent stations hardly. Maybe there was one in New York or something, but they weren’t widespread — New York and L.A. So we didn’t have a ten o’clock newscast, not even a local newscast. We had nothing. So I never saw television news, except sometimes a few minutes in the morning, and I thought, “Boy, wouldn’t it be nice for all the other people, you know, that get home late at night.”</p> <p>TBS was the first 24-hour, seven-day-a-week channel, the first channel that ever went 24/7, and the idea with that was that we had mostly old black-and-white movies and black-and-white series, and at a time when all the television programs and new programs were all in color. So we weren’t exactly in a position to be the first channel you turned on. We didn’t have <em>The Tonight Show</em> or anything like that. So I said, “One thing we could do is — if we were on all night, seven days a week — there are some people that have insomnia, and when they get up and click around for something to watch, we will be the only thing on, and what will happen is, if they watch a movie during the night, they will turn the TV set off, and when they turn the set back on in the morning, it will be on Channel 17, and maybe they will watch us in the morning.”</p> <p><strong>So you thought 24-hour news would do that?</strong></p> <p>Ted Turner: Twenty-four-hour news? I thought it was a no-brainer. It was something you could afford to do. It really doesn’t cost that much more to do 24 hours of news than it does two-and-a half hours of news. You’ve got to have the news gathering organization. You have to have basically the same stories, but you need more stories and more different kinds of programs if you’re going to do 24-hour news, unless you’re going to do something like Headline News, which is basically a half-hour rolling format that you tune in and out of, and you don’t expect somebody to stay with it more than a half an hour. But if you want people to have an opportunity to watch for extended periods of time, you need programs like <em>Larry King Live</em> and debate programs like what used to be <em>Crossfire</em>. You need financial reporting. You need extended sports reporting, if you’re going to do a good job. Basically, there’s a number of cable news networks now, but we were the only one in the beginning. I didn’t think it was hard to figure out how it should be formatted and what it should do. The main thing it was going to provide is news availability when people had a chance to watch it, rather than when the networks wanted people to watch it.</p> <p><strong>I’m sure a lot of people told you, “That won’t work! No one wants to watch news all day!”</strong></p> <p>Ted Turner: I didn’t expect them to watch news all day. I thought <em>some</em> people would watch news all day. There are some people that <em>do</em> watch news all day. There are some people that watch the home shopping channels all day! Help!</p> <p><strong>So it was the convenience of having it there when you wanted it, when you needed it. Some people scoffed and said only networks can really afford to cover the news. How did you get around that?</strong></p> <p>Ted Turner: Just doing it.</p> <p><strong>Doing it cheaper?</strong></p> <p>Ted Turner: Let’s just assume a lot less expensive. Let’s not say cheaper. We didn’t have the budget. You can’t spend what you don’t have, although we did spend a lot of money that we didn’t have, and it took five years and $250 million in losses before it finally started breaking even.</p> <p><strong>When did you know this was going to be something really substantial and important?</strong></p> <p>Ted Turner: When I made the decision to do it, about a year before it went on the air, there was no question in my mind. Now the only question was: Would I run out of resources before it turned the corner? There was no way I could know about that until I went ahead and did it, because I didn’t have enough capital to see it through. But in my study of history, Erwin Rommel in the desert never had enough petrol for his offensives against the British to finish them. He had to depend on capturing fuel supplies from the British by attacking so quickly and catching them off guard that they would retreat and leave some petrol for him to finish. It was dicey, and it didn’t always work, but I knew that was what I was going to have to do. I was going to have to hit hard and move incredibly fast. And that’s what we did: moved so fast that the networks wouldn’t have time to respond, because they should have done this, not me, but they didn’t have any imagination, or didn’t have adequate imagination.</p> <p><strong>Within a few years, some dramatic things happened in the world that are inextricably linked with CNN in our minds: the Challenger disaster, the first Gulf War…</strong></p> <figure id="attachment_12489" style="width: 2280px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><noscript><img class="wp-image-12489 size-full " src="https://web.archive.org/web/20190102091545im_/http://162.243.3.155/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/tur0-001-turner-turner-ted-corbis-AAMK001374.jpg"></noscript><img class="wp-image-12489 size-full lazyload" alt="Ted Turner at CNN headquarters in Atlanta in the 1990s. (© Louie Psihoyos/CORBIS)" width="2280" height="2320" data-sizes="(max-width: 2280px) 100vw, 2280px" data-srcset="/web/20190102091545im_/http://www.achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/tur0-001-turner-turner-ted-corbis-AAMK001374.jpg 2280w, /web/20190102091545im_/http://www.achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/tur0-001-turner-turner-ted-corbis-AAMK001374-373x380.jpg 373w, /web/20190102091545im_/http://www.achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/tur0-001-turner-turner-ted-corbis-AAMK001374-747x760.jpg 747w" data-src="https://web.archive.org/web/20190102091545/http://162.243.3.155/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/tur0-001-turner-turner-ted-corbis-AAMK001374.jpg"><figcaption class="wp-caption-text">Ted Turner at CNN headquarters in Atlanta in the 1990s. (© Louie Psihoyos/CORBIS)</figcaption></figure><p>Ted Turner: Tiananmen Square. Oh yeah. We became the news of record all over the world. It was the first global network, CNN. I went out and sold it all over the world. There is not a country that doesn’t have CNN. Even North Korea has it. It’s the most widely distributed product on the planet, more than Coca Cola and Marlboro cigarettes.</p> <p><strong>The advent of new satellite technology enabled you to do the news from anywhere, even a Baghdad hotel room in the middle of a war. Could you tell us about that?</strong></p> <p>Ted Turner: Well, portable satellite receivers and portable satellite send stations were developed. At first, they were very large, but very quickly, they shrunk in size, just like cell phones and everything else. Look how fast film disappeared. Digital cameras? When I first saw a digital camera 20 years ago, I said, “Sell Kodak short,” and Kodak has almost gone broke, but I didn’t invest in it. I just invested in my own company, until recently.</p> <p><strong>When did you foresee that you would be able to have reporters anywhere, anytime, with this mobile satellite technology?</strong></p> <p>Ted Turner: Well, even if we hadn’t had the capability before, we had the capability to go live from anywhere. I can’t remember exactly what year that was because it developed over a period of time. You had to get the story, and videotape had pretty much replaced film already, and it was instantaneous. So you had to get the tape to the closest transmission point, whether it was telephone lines or satellite. We tried to use satellite, but we didn’t always use satellite at the very beginning because it wasn’t always available. So we used whatever method we could. If we had to do it, we’d put the tape on a plane and fly it back to the closest place where we could transmit from.</p> <p><strong>Where were you when that first Gulf War started and we all watched it on CNN?</strong></p> <p>Ted Turner: It was one of the most exciting moments of my life. I knew what was coming. We knew that the attack was coming imminently because we had been warned by the State Department. Even the President called the president of the network and strongly recommended that we get our people out of Baghdad, but I made the decisions that — as long as they would volunteer to stay — that they could stay. We were freedom of the press, we were going to get the story. I was in Jane Fonda’s room. She was working, and I had the afternoon off, and it was, I don’t know, about 5:00 or 6 o’clock East Coast time and two o’clock West Coast, and I was watching CNN, and the war started. I flipped over to KCBS and Dan Rather was in the studio talking, and I flipped over to NBC and Tom Brokaw was in the studio talking, and I flipped over to ABC and Peter Jennings was in the studio talking, and I flipped over to CNN, and the tracer bullets were going and the rockets were getting shot down, and I said, “Yippee! This is the greatest scoop in the history of journalism!” and it still is the greatest scoop, and one network had the start of the war from behind enemy lines.</p> <p>The Iraqis didn’t see us as enemies because we had already started the war report. Their chief executives had been over to Atlanta. They were hooked in and affiliated with us on stories from Iraq, and they got a lot of stories from us to run in their local Iraqi newscasts, and we had done this all over the world. So I built up a system. You know, ABC, NBC, and CBS, they’d come into these countries once in a while, but we were there all the time. We were there all the time, and we had material that they wanted, because any time the Pope said anything important, we ran it. Any time the President of the Soviet Union said anything, we had it. So if they just had a satellite dish at their network in Baghdad, or whatever it was — Tokyo — and they had made arrangements with us… When I first got to Japan, I went around to the Japanese broadcasters, and I said, “CNN for not many yen.” I sold it there. I sold it everywhere.</p> <p><strong>Do you think that the major networks decided to just let you have the international stories? They cut back their foreign correspondents and trashed their foreign bureaus right around that time.</strong></p> <p>Ted Turner: With news, the more local you are, the more interest there is. People are more interested in their neighborhood than the other side of the world. They are more interested in their district and their city and their state and their country than they are the other side of the world. But what you don’t have to do is appeal to everybody. In fact nowadays, with 100 channels in cable TV, you can see anything you want to, basically. So it’s become a medium of choice, rather than a medium where you just sit there with a mass audience, sit there and watch Milton Berle or Johnny Carson, and I helped make that happen. I helped set people free.</p> <p><strong>We all thank you. Biographers talk about your unrelenting desire to be the first to do something. What is the mindset you have to have to create something from scratch?</strong></p> <p>Ted Turner: You have to have a lot of courage, and you have to have a lot of imagination. You can do a lot of things from scratch that aren’t going to work out. I can tell you how I did it. I spent a lot of time thinking. I had done a lot of reading, and when I had spare time, a lot of times I would just think and not waste my time watching TV. I watched very little television growing up, hardly any at all. Your mind is just like any other muscle in your body. If you want to have a sharp mind, you need to use it. Just like if you want to have strong muscles, you better work out a lot, so I worked my mind out all the time, and then when I needed it, I would put it to use. Like developing CNN, for instance…</p> <p>I asked myself where the threat’s going to come. Once CNN is on the air and people see it’s going to be successful, where is the next threat going to come from? And I said the threat is going to come from a right wing news network, and it was 18 years later before Fox got started, 18 years. We had that, and by then I was making so much money and doing so well, because the way I was going to counteract Fox was — I had two networks, CNN and Headline News, and I could say, “Well, I’ll just turn Headline News into the rightest wing network you ever saw and preempt Fox, and there will be no real reason for people to tune into it.” But when the time came and Fox got started, I was so successful. I was worth billions, where I had been worth nothing at the beginning. I liked being straightforward with the news. Something with my name on it, I couldn’t do a right wing network. I said they can just have whatever they want with it, and we’ll stick to what we’ve been doing, being the world’s most respected news network. Like <em>The New York Times</em>. <em>The New York Times</em> doesn’t try and mimic the <em>Post</em>, not really. They stand there, and I give them credit. I wanted to be <em>The New York Times</em> of the television news business.</p> <p><strong>Since your departure, do you think that CNN has dumbed down to some extent, in response to Fox’s success?</strong></p> <p>Ted Turner: Yes. Yes. I think CNN still, when they’re at their best and when they’re doing serious journalism, they’re hard to beat, but they definitely responded to the ratings. Particularly, Headline News. To me, Headline News in prime time now with Glenn Beck, I never watch it. I just can’t watch it. It’s just opinions. It’s just blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. But Larry King is still there, pretty much doing the same thing. Headline News in the morning, they haven’t changed the format much on it. They have gone a little more tabloid, but then, whenever you sell or merge your company — I made a mistake doing it.</p> <p>The mistake I made was losing control of the company. But I didn’t plan for that, just everything went wrong. But in a way, that was good, too, because I had had so much success for so long, and I didn’t get the big head, but I did perhaps overestimate just how much strength that I would have with the Time Warner merger. As long as it was just Time Warner, I had seven or eight percent of the company when I merged with Time Warner, but when we merged with AOL, I went down to three percent, and that is when they phased me out. I got laid off in a restructuring, but that’s okay. I got in the restaurant business. I had always wanted to do that, and I’m enjoying that.</p> <p><strong>You got into the philanthropy business, too.</strong></p> <p>Ted Turner: That’s right. I did. I don’t consider that a business, it’s philanthropy. It stands on its own, and I really have enjoyed that a lot. If I had still had my job at Turner Broadcasting, I wouldn’t have gotten into the philanthropy to the extent that I have, probably not as early as I did, and that’s been very, very satisfying.</p> <figure id="attachment_945" style="width: 2280px" class="wp-caption alignright"><noscript><img class="wp-image-945 size-full " src="https://web.archive.org/web/20190102091545im_/http://162.243.3.155/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/aar0-003.jpg"></noscript><img class="wp-image-945 size-full lazyload" alt="A statue of Hank Aaron stands outside Turner Field in Atlanta, Georgia, where he set a new home run record for major league baseball." width="2280" height="3040" data-sizes="(max-width: 2280px) 100vw, 2280px" data-srcset="/web/20190102091545im_/http://www.achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/aar0-003.jpg 2280w, /web/20190102091545im_/http://www.achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/aar0-003-285x380.jpg 285w, /web/20190102091545im_/http://www.achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/aar0-003-570x760.jpg 570w" data-src="https://web.archive.org/web/20190102091545/http://162.243.3.155/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/aar0-003.jpg"><figcaption class="wp-caption-text">A statue of Hank Aaron stands outside Turner Field in Atlanta, Georgia, where he set a new home run record for major league baseball.</figcaption></figure><p>If something happens to you that breaks your heart, that’s not going to do you or anybody any good. What you’ve got to do is shake it off, and just like if you’re playing for a baseball team. You get beat on Friday? Well, you know you got Saturday and Sunday, and if you get beat on Saturday and Sunday, well, there’s Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. And if you get beat all year like the Braves — the first four years I owned them, they came in last every time in their division, and set a record that stands today with the most consecutive last place finishes since divisional play was started. But I didn’t quit. And 18 years later, I won the World Series, and we had the best team in the history of sports. For 13 consecutive years, we won our division. Nobody has ever done that in hockey, football, you name it.</p> <p><strong>A really interesting example of turning something dark into something positive was when you were suspended in 1977 from showing up at the stadium for the Braves.</strong></p> <p>Ted Turner: I couldn’t go in my office. I could sit in my seat, but I couldn’t go in the clubhouse. Couldn’t talk to the players or the coaches. It hurt. I couldn’t go in my office.</p> <p><strong>So you turned around and won the America’s Cup.</strong></p> <p>Ted Turner: That’s right.</p> <p><strong>Tell us about your attraction to sailing. When did you learn how to sail?</strong></p> <p>Ted Turner: When I was about ten years old, I went out. My father had a sailboat, and I went out with him, and then I started racing when I was 11 or 12, and for 33 years it was very important to me, and I raced in thousands of races and won hundreds of them.</p> <p><strong>What does it take to be a great racer on the sea?</strong></p> <p>Ted Turner: It takes the same things it takes to be great at anything. First of all, you have to have some ability, and then you have to work real hard, and that’s what I did. I had some ability, not a great amount.</p> <p>In the first eight years that I raced sailboats, I never won. I was sailing at Savannah Yacht Club in Savannah, Georgia, and I never won a club championship. I was second almost all the time, but I never won once in eight years. And then in my ninth year of racing, I went to college and started racing there, and all the work that I had done — because those first eight years, I wasn’t really losing. I was learning how to win. From then on, from my first year in college, I won just about all the time. Not all the time, but I won way more than my normal share of the races.</p> <p><strong>Weren’t you named the best sailor in New England?</strong></p> <p>Ted Turner: Yeah, Best Freshman Sailor. I was named Yachtsman of the Year four times. No man has ever done that, before or since. It’s like the MVP. They have an award that yachting writers select. They were all in the ’70s, that was when I was really on top.</p> <p><strong>Could you tell us a little bit about what you went through in 1979? You won that race, but unfortunately, lives were lost.</strong></p> <figure id="attachment_12496" style="width: 2089px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><noscript><img class="wp-image-12496 size-full " src="https://web.archive.org/web/20190102091545im_/http://162.243.3.155/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/tur0-008-turner-Turner-sailing-AP.jpg"></noscript><img class="wp-image-12496 size-full lazyload" alt="Ted Turner at the helm of Courageous, the yacht he sailed to victory in the 1977 America's Cup race. (Photo by George Silk/Time Life Pictures/Getty Images)" width="2089" height="3104" data-sizes="(max-width: 2089px) 100vw, 2089px" data-srcset="/web/20190102091545im_/http://www.achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/tur0-008-turner-Turner-sailing-AP.jpg 2089w, /web/20190102091545im_/http://www.achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/tur0-008-turner-Turner-sailing-AP-256x380.jpg 256w, /web/20190102091545im_/http://www.achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/tur0-008-turner-Turner-sailing-AP-511x760.jpg 511w" data-src="https://web.archive.org/web/20190102091545/http://162.243.3.155/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/tur0-008-turner-Turner-sailing-AP.jpg"><figcaption class="wp-caption-text">Ted Turner at the helm of <em>Courageous</em>, the yacht he sailed to victory in the 1977 America’s Cup race. (Photo by George Silk/Time Life Pictures/Getty Images)</figcaption></figure><p>Ted Turner: The Fastnet race. Yeah. It was the roughest race in history. I think 16 or 17 people were killed, and of the 300 boats, like 50 of them sank or were disabled, and about 90 finished, and the other 50 dropped out.</p> <p><strong>You didn’t abandon ship?</strong></p> <p>Ted Turner: No. We kept racing. We won by three and a half hours.</p> <p><strong>It must have been incredibly scary.</strong></p> <p>Ted Turner: It was, but I was more scared of losing than I was of dying.</p> <p><strong>How did your crew feel about that?</strong></p> <p>Ted Turner: They were with me. They said, “You’re the man.” We kept going at full speed during the height of the storm.</p> <p><strong>Sailboats were flipping over.</strong></p> <p>Ted Turner: Right. We got knocked down repeatedly, knocked right down flat, but we came back up because we had a lead keel on the bottom of the boat. I knew I had a strong boat, but we hit the waves so hard that when the race was over and we inspected for damage, we found that the whole front of the boat, all the welds had cracked and broken. So the plates were floating. The hull plates were floating on the frames. All the welds had broken in the front part of the boat, and we had to take the boat out of the water and completely re-weld it in the boat yard. But the plates didn’t give, thank God, or we would have sunk like a rock and I wouldn’t be here now.</p> <p><strong>You’re a man who thinks big. Where did this ambition come from?</strong></p> <p>Ted Turner: From society. It started with my father. He always said, “Son, you gotta work hard and be a big success.” And when I got to school, that’s what they told me in school. I went to military school — boarding school — for a number of years. That’s what they said and so all I did really was do what I was told: Work hard and be a big success.</p> <p><strong>What kind of student were you?</strong></p> <p>Ted Turner: Pretty good. I was a pretty good student. I was a B-plus student for the most part. I would say I never quite got straight A’s, but one period I got three A’s and a B. That was the best I ever did.</p> <p><strong>Is it true that you had an ambition to be a missionary originally?</strong></p> <p>Ted Turner: At one time. I wouldn’t say originally. I was going to a religious school when I was in high school. We were exposed to a lot of evangelists and I got converted to Christianity.</p> <p><strong>Were you a big reader when you were young?</strong></p> <p>Ted Turner: I was. At boarding school, we had required study hall, and I was usually able to get my homework done in less than the two-and-a-half hours, and I read the rest of the time. I did some reading, just for information, on my own. But mostly, when I didn’t have to, I was outdoors doing things. I was always doing things rather than reading about them, but I’ve read a lot in my life.</p> <p><strong>What did you especially enjoy reading when you were young?</strong></p> <p>Ted Turner: When I was young, mainly I read history. I was fascinated by history, and I read a lot about animals and birds. I was fascinated by nature, but I really was interested in lots of things. I was interested in movies and somewhat in sports. I was interested in just about everything.</p> <p><strong>Your interest in the Civil War has been demonstrated by a number of your films and TV shows. Was that an interest when you were young as well?</strong></p> <figure id="attachment_12499" style="width: 507px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><noscript><img class="wp-image-12499 size-full " src="https://web.archive.org/web/20190102091545im_/http://162.243.3.155/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/tur0-012-turner.jpg"></noscript><img class="wp-image-12499 size-full lazyload" alt="Ted Turner, a teenage cadet at the McCallie School." width="507" height="580" data-sizes="(max-width: 507px) 100vw, 507px" data-srcset="/web/20190102091545im_/http://www.achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/tur0-012-turner.jpg 507w, /web/20190102091545im_/http://www.achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/tur0-012-turner-332x380.jpg 332w" data-src="https://web.archive.org/web/20190102091545/http://162.243.3.155/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/tur0-012-turner.jpg"><figcaption class="wp-caption-text">Ted Turner, a teenage cadet at the McCallie School.</figcaption></figure><p>Ted Turner: When I studied history, I was perhaps most fascinated by military history. Growing up in the South, and having moved down from the North, the Civil War was all around us. I went to school for six years in Chattanooga, Tennessee, on Missionary Ridge, where one of the great battles was fought. So there were monuments all around. World War II, because my father fought in that, and I was alive during it, even though I was a young boy, I remember it vividly. The Civil War probably drew my interest a little bit more than some of the others.</p> <p><strong>How did you take to boarding school? Did you like being there?</strong></p> <p>Ted Turner: Not really. I would have rather been home because it was pretty confining. We were stuck on the campus most of the time, and even though we were close to some trees that were on the campus, it was confining, and I couldn’t view birds and wildlife as much as I would like to have been able to do after school in the afternoon.</p> <p><strong>Were you a problem kid? Did you make trouble at the schools?</strong></p> <p>Ted Turner: I was a mild problem kid. I didn’t cause any serious problems, but I was mischievous. The usual things.</p> <p><strong>Were there any books that particularly meant a lot to you when you were growing up?</strong></p> <p>Ted Turner: Sure, lots of them. Lots of them. When I got to college, I was a classics major, and that was mainly the study of Greek — and to a lesser extent Roman — history and culture, and that fascinated me: the Iliad, the Odyssey, the Aeneid by Virgil. I enjoyed <em>Gone With the Wind</em> and history books, as I said, of all types. I was fascinated by naval history. Then I ended up, you know, spending a good bit of my time racing sailboats, and when I did that, I fancied myself a modern Horatio Nelson.</p> <p><strong>Going back to your roots, your father’s father was a farmer, wasn’t he? Did that have an influence on your own love of the land?</strong></p> <p>Ted Turner: Yes, no question about it. My father loved land, too, and so did my grandfather, and I love the outdoors and nature and flowers and trees and plants and everything from insects to elephants.</p> <p><strong>Your grandfather’s fortunes took a downward turn during the Depression, didn’t they?</strong></p> <p>Ted Turner: Yeah. He lost his business and his farm, my grandfather did, and my father had to drop out of college. He couldn’t afford to go because my grandfather lost everything. He never did declare bankruptcy, but he lost everything in the first year of the Depression.</p> <p><strong>Do you think that influenced your father’s work ethic?</strong></p> <p>Ted Turner: No question about it. He hated to see his father lose everything, and he was tremendously afraid that that would happen to him, too. He had an almost paranoid fear of going broke.</p> <p><strong>How did your father get into advertising?</strong></p> <p>Ted Turner: He got into it while he was in college taking traffic counts for the billboard company that he was working for, counting the number of cars that passed their billboards in certain streets. I’ve done it. You stand there with a clicker, and you click every car that comes by that has a chance to see the billboard. You do that for an hour. There’s a formula that if that many cars go by in an hour, then in 24 hours, you have ten times as many, depending on the time of day you do it. It’s like Nielsen auditing the television audience, but there was no television in those days.</p> <p><strong>He worked his way up then in the company?</strong></p> <p>Ted Turner: Oh, yeah. He went into business for himself later on. I worked for him in the summers starting when I was 12 years old.</p> <p><strong>Did you like it?</strong></p> <p>Ted Turner: I would have rather been able to play, but I was working a 42-hour week when I was 12 years old in the summer. I’d come home from military school, and I’d get a week off at the beginning of the summer and a week off at the end of the summer. The rest of the time, I had to work. I think he started out paying me ten cents an hour. It was below the minimum wage; I remember it was 85 cents an hour. I said, “Dad, first of all, I am too young to be employed.” I think you had to be 15 or something before you could be legally employed, and I said, “You’re paying me below the minimum wage.” He said, “What are you going to do about it?” I said, “Well, I could turn you in, but I better not. What good would that do?” So I just did what he said.</p> <p><strong>Were you a good salesman from the beginning?</strong></p> <p>Ted Turner: I wasn’t in sales to start with. I started as a bill poster, constructing billboards and painting them and maintaining the billboards. I did that for about five years. Then, when I got to be about 17 years old, I put on a coat and tie and went out with our sales manager to learn sales.</p> <p><strong>Isn’t that underage for selling?</strong></p> <p>Ted Turner: I don’t know, but by then, I had gotten accustomed to doing what I was instructed to do.</p> <p><strong>Around that time, you started at Brown University. Could you tell us about your experience at Brown?</strong></p> <p>Ted Turner: Brown is in the Ivy League. My dad wanted me to go to an Ivy League school, if I could get in. I wanted to go to Harvard, but I didn’t get in, so I went to Brown. I did get in there.</p> <p><strong>And you declared classics. I believe your father disapproved of the classics study.</strong></p> <p>Ted Turner: Right. But Brown was a liberal arts school. He wished I had gone to business school, but I didn’t. I chose to go to Brown, and he let me make that choice, and then he wasn’t particularly happy with it. Like the economics courses, I took several of them, but they were all theoretical. They weren’t practical business. It wasn’t a business school, so whatever I majored in there, whether it was English literature or whatever, I don’t think he’d have been happy with. He wanted me to be successful in business, and I know he would have been happier if I’d been attending business school. I was in the liberal arts. It was a small school. That’s all it had.</p> <p><strong>Did you get kicked out of Brown?</strong></p> <p>Ted Turner: I didn’t get actually kicked out, and I’m a graduate from there. I was suspended. That’s what they called it. I was suspended a couple of times. The first time, I got back in right away, and the second time, I decided not to finish college at that point and went into the business with him. He still wanted me to do that.</p> <p><strong>Can you tell us how you got suspended from Brown?</strong></p> <p>Ted Turner: What difference does it make? Breaking the rules. I had a little too much to drink and was disorderly. Drunk and disorderly. But I wasn’t driving.</p> <p><strong>Is it true that you got in trouble for having a girl in your room?</strong></p> <p>Ted Turner: That’s right. The second time I got suspended, it was for having a girl in my room. In those days, that was against the rules. I didn’t have any money, so I couldn’t go rent a hotel room or a motel room. I was breaking the rules, and I knew I was, but that’s just the way it went. Now it’s okay. I was really just ahead of my time. The rules changed.</p> <p><strong>You had to deal with tragedy early, with the loss of your sister and then with the suicide of your father. Can you talk about how that affected your early life?</strong></p> <p>Ted Turner: It was hard to lose my sister and then, a couple years later, my father too. If I had spent my time just sitting down and thinking about it, it would have absolutely crushed me. I did give it some thought, obviously, but in both cases, whenever I had tragedy occur in my life, I’d just go work harder. I think that’s the best way to heal from wounds — spiritual wounds, wounds of the heart. The best thing to do is to get your mind off of it as quickly as you can, and the best way to do that is do something that requires your thought process and your efforts, so that you can do something else and concentrate on it and grow, grow out of the tragedy.</p> <p><strong>Was your father having business problems? Do you think that caused it?</strong></p> <p>Ted Turner: Not really. My father just had a classic case. In those days, I don’t believe that they diagnosed clinical depression, but I think he had clinical depression primarily, and he had up and down mood swings that could have been a bipolar situation. We know so much more about psychiatry today than we did 50 years ago, but I never really went back and tried to study what it was. Whatever it was, it was unpleasant.</p> <p><strong>It must have been absolutely shattering. How did you find out about his death?</strong></p> <p>Ted Turner: I can’t really recall. I think I got a phone call.</p> <p><strong>How soon did you decide to take over the company?</strong></p> <p>Ted Turner: Very shortly after his funeral, a couple of days later, they probated the will, and he had left me as executor, even though I was only 24 years old. I basically had control of his little billboard company and the responsibility for meeting the other instructions in his will. I was already working at the company. So I just moved into his office and worked very hard.</p> <p><strong>Do you think you were driven to succeed partly because of that tragedy?</strong></p> <p>Ted Turner: I think to some degree. Dad and I were very close. He was my best man at my first wedding, and we were very close. I did have a desire to show the world that he had a viable, good business and that it was going to be successful, and we did that.</p> <p><strong>What struggles and challenges did you face in taking over the company at that point?</strong></p> <p>Ted Turner: He had expanded the company dramatically, taking on a lot of debt, and tripled the size of the company with acquisition of part of the biggest billboard company in America. He got a small piece of it, but it catapulted us size-wise up several notches. There was a lot of debt associated with it. He was concerned, unnecessarily so, about the level of debt, and was afraid he wasn’t going to be able to make the payments and he was going to be like his father and lose everything, which he wouldn’t have done. But he had been an alcoholic, and a chain smoker too, and just about the time he made this acquisition, he also quit smoking and drinking at the same time, which was a traumatic situation for him, and I think that that helped to push him to the edge of wherever he was.</p> <p><strong>They say that drinking is a form of self-medication, and if you don’t have the medication…</strong></p> <p>Ted Turner: Right. And he was a heavy drinker. He had health problems, too. He had smoked three packs of cigarettes a day his whole adult life, and he had developed emphysema a year or so before, and he was having a real hard time breathing. Emphysema is terrible, and smoking is terrible. Drinking to excess is terrible. I learned a lot of things from my father and from others, and one of them was to drink moderately and don’t smoke. That’s been helpful to me, I’m sure.</p> <p><strong>After your father died, how did you establish yourself and stabilize the business?</strong></p> <p>Ted Turner: Well, it was a long, long story. I got some of the advertisers that leased the billboards over a year’s period of time to prepay me, for a discount, and I sold some stock to some of the employees. I had already worked at the company for 12 years, at different parts of it. So I knew the billboard business inside and out when I was 24 years old. My father had explained how it worked to me over the years and I hit the ground running because I had already had the experience of most 40-year-old people when I was 24.</p> <p><strong>Did people trust you because they’d known you for so long?</strong></p> <p>Ted Turner: It wasn’t that they trusted me. I was an unknown, because at the time I was working as a branch manager. I had to prove myself, and it took some time to build up my own credibility.</p> <p><strong>Would you say you had confidence in yourself?</strong></p> <p>Ted Turner: Absolutely. I’d had all of the experience. I knew the business inside and out, and I had worked hard at it and studied it. It was relatively easy. It was much simpler to understand. Basically, with billboards, you go out and lease the location. In those days, we tried to pay $25 a year for a location, and then you put the billboard up, and then you went and rented it to an advertiser for $25 a month, and you maintained it. You made sure that the lights were burning at night, and that the weeds were cut in front of it and it was maintained, and hopefully, between your income and your outgo, if you could keep your signs leased most of the time, you’d make a profit. That was it. It’s very simple. The television business was much more complicated because of satellite and cable TV that were brand new when I got into the business. No one had really utilized them very much, hardly at all.</p> <p><strong>Tell us how you got started in the television business. You bought an Atlanta TV station, WJRJ, that was losing a lot of money. What were you thinking?</strong></p> <p>Ted Turner: Before I did that, I went into radio actually. I bought and merged with five radio stations, because I didn’t have enough money to buy a television station at that point, and I didn’t even know what UHF television was.</p> <p>We had in Atlanta four VHF stations, the commercial stations, and then this UHF station popped up somewhere, and I heard that it was about to go broke because nobody could get UHF in those days. There was no cable TV, except in small towns where they brought television to people that lived too far from a big city to get over-the-air television. At that time, I figured that television was really on the move, and growing much faster because it was new. This was in the ’60s. Television was relatively new, and color television was really just starting too, and I figured a television that nobody could see, I jokingly said, “A television nobody could see would be easier to sell than billboards, because nobody could see, or hardly anybody.” Then I went out and told the advertisers that our viewers are more intelligent than the network viewers, and they said, “Why?” I said, “Because you have to be a genius to figure out how to get UHF!” So the people we had had to be real smart to figure out how to get the special antenna and how to hook it up and twist it around, so they could get a signal. That’s pretty much true, too.</p> <p><strong>You started buying old movies and adding them to the station’s programming. What was the idea?</strong></p> <p>Ted Turner: They were already running some old movies, but I put a little more emphasis on movies. I liked them personally, and even an old movie, a lot of times, had great production value and great actors and so forth, because they were made for the theater. Even though people had an opportunity to see the old movies when they were in the theaters, as opposed to the television shows that premiered on television, we couldn’t afford first-run shows. So we ran a lot of movies.</p> <p><strong>Of course, back then, people didn’t have DVDs or videos to rent.</strong></p> <p>Ted Turner: That’s right. It was before there was DVD, before there was video. I can remember, when I started in the business, the news cameras mainly used film. Videotape was just coming in, and the smallest they made was two inches. Obviously, that’s too big for VHS, but then VHS came along.</p> <p><strong>We want to talk a little bit about your philanthropy because it has been so extraordinary in recent years. What made you decide to pour so much of your resources into the United Nations?</strong></p> <p>Ted Turner: Because it needed it. That’s where the biggest problems are in the world, in the developing world. In the United States, we’re so fortunate, and most people don’t even realize just how lucky we are, because the media in the country doesn’t — I mean, they’ll run a few photographs of Darfur, but we don’t see the suffering much anymore because the newscasters know — I know when <em>we</em> ran programs about the suffering in the Third World, we could see the Nielsen meters turn. People didn’t want to see it. So basically, the networks don’t run it anymore, just like they hardly run news about what the casualties are in Iraq. It’s unfortunate I think, because the world is so complicated, complex — and with nuclear weapons, so dangerous — that we need to have a citizenry that is well informed. But you can’t make people watch something that they don’t want to watch or read something that they don’t want to read, and we get an awful lot of these serial killers and murderers, because people are bizarrely attracted to bizarre behavior. It’s just depressing to me because I don’t consider that news. I consider that sensationalism.</p> <p>I don’t really need to know or want to know about some sniper that killed six kids and then shoots himself. Today, the story is about the guy that shot himself in the head three times before he killed himself. That’s hard to do. Usually, you can only shoot yourself in the head once. He must have had bad aim.</p> <p><strong>In 1997, you walked into Kofi Annan’s office and told him what you were going to do. Could you tell us about that?</strong></p> <p>Ted Turner: I didn’t want him to be shocked the next night. I knew he was going to be at the United Nations Association dinner, and I was going to be honored as the man who made the greatest contributions to the UN that year in the United States, and I wanted to have something to say, and I figured that on my way to New York — I was waiting for the last minute to work on my speech. I said, “What are you going to say, Turner?” I said, “Well…” because the U.S. was about a billion dollars in arrears. We hadn’t paid our debt for two years, and it was about a billion dollars. I said, “Well, why don’t you just give a billion dollars to the UN,” and I’ll just make up for what the U.S. didn’t pay. You know, step forward, like if your uncle doesn’t pay his bills down at the grocery store, you pay them for him. So that’s what I decided to do.</p> <p><strong>Your uncle doesn’t usually run up a debt of a billion dollars, though.</strong></p> <p>Ted Turner: I was worth three billion at the time, and I gave away over half of what I had, because I gave another half a billion to other causes, too.</p> <p><strong>It’s been said that your gift to the UN shamed your fellow billionaires into giving, and that had a great effect in itself.</strong></p> <p>Ted Turner: I don’t like to the use the word “shamed.” Inspired certainly, certainly better. There’s no way of knowing whether that’s true or not, and it doesn’t really matter, but charitable giving in the United States has increased dramatically. I personally think that’s good, because we have so many people that have made just tons of money, and you can’t really spend billions of dollars intelligently on yourself, although people like Larry Ellison try. He has, I think, spent over a billion dollars on himself. He’s got a 500-foot yacht now that’s bigger than an ocean liner. It’s supposed to have like 100 people that work on it, and he probably takes one couple out with him most of the time. So there’s four people being waited on by 100. It’s kind of silly.</p> <p><strong>You’ve said that the <em>Forbes</em> list of the 400 wealthiest Americans can sometimes have the ill effect of keeping people competitive instead of giving more.</strong></p> <p>Ted Turner: I said we needed to have a list of the biggest givers, not just the richest people, and <em>Slate</em> has done that, <em>Fortune</em> magazine did it, and it did help giving, because a lot of these guys just want to be on a list somewhere. They want to see their name in a magazine. What’s wrong with that? Most of us are that way. Most of us would like to be a movie star, even if we aren’t. Right? Wouldn’t you rather be Paris Hilton?</p> <p><strong>Tell us about the creation of the Nuclear Threat Initiative. Why do you feel that is so important?</strong></p> <p>Ted Turner: The Nuclear Threat Initiative? Well, the Nuclear Threat Initiative was conceived of and created by Sam Nunn and I, who are the co-chairs of it, to try and see if we can reduce or eliminate the threat from weapons of mass destruction: nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons. We want to see humanity survive and not commit mass suicide. That’s why we did it, and why we’re still working at it.</p> <p><strong>After the Cold War, I think we all imagined that there would be disarmament.</strong></p> <p>Ted Turner: Yeah, nuclear disarmament, anyway. I thought that, too. That’s the main reason why I started the Nuclear Threat Initiative, because instead of getting rid of the weapons, we had — when India and Pakistan went nuclear, that was a real wake up call. I had let myself get lulled into going to sleep over it, because I had worked with the Russians in trying to end the Cold War — the Soviets, I should say — and we came up with the Goodwill Games, and I was right there when the Cold War came to an end. I thought, now that we have made it through the Cuban missile crisis and the Berlin Wall crisis and all the other crises, in a reasonably quick period of time, we’ll get rid of the nuclear weapons and have a safer, better world, but it didn’t happen. So that is why we started the initiative.</p> <p>So far, it hasn’t happened. I still believe it will. Either we’ll get rid of the weapons at some point, or they’re going to get rid of us. Remember the story that was in last week’s news about the B52 that took off from North Dakota with live nuclear weapons on it? By mistake, they loaded them on! We’re just so lucky. They say they’re safe, but I don’t believe it. They say that airlines are safe too, but every week, one crashes somewhere in the world.</p> <p><strong>You’ve said that 95 percent of the population doesn’t realize the threat from these nuclear weapons that are still facing each other.</strong></p> <p>Ted Turner: They’re too busy playing electronic games with their thumbs, which don’t require any brain power. It really worries me. We’re lucky to be getting half the news that we should be getting, and we’re playing these dumb games that don’t exercise our minds. So what do you expect? I mean, we elected George Bush as President of the United States twice. Right? And he’s struggling with the job. Joe Torre, even though he got eliminated yesterday, has a better overall record.</p> <p><strong>What do you hope the Nuclear Threat Initiative will accomplish?</strong></p> <p>Ted Turner: Nuclear disarmament and the complete elimination of biological and chemical weapons, as well as nuclear weapons.</p> <p><strong>That’s very ambitious.</strong></p> <p>Ted Turner: Yeah, but it’s easy. Nobody really wants to drop a nuclear bomb, except nuts, and that’s the frightening thing. There are some nuts out there. There’s more than one Osama bin Laden, and if they ever get their hands on a nuclear weapon, it’s goodbye New York and maybe Washington, if they get two. If it’s a Chechen that gets it, it’s goodbye Moscow. Killing ten million people in five minutes, that will be a real tragedy.</p> <p><strong>So what’s the next step?</strong></p> <p>Ted Turner: The next step is to keep working, keep trucking along. It took a long time to get CNN to be profitable. It took me a long time with the Braves to get them to be World Series winners. It took me a long time to win the America’s Cup. I mean a long time for a life. But I’m almost 70 now, but I’m still working hard on the things that I consider most important. I want to see a more equitable world. I’d like to see the Doha round of trade talks end successfully and the rich world cut the tariffs on the poor world’s farm exports, so that the poorest people in the world will have a chance to make a decent living.</p> <p>I’m a free trader. I believe in free trade. I think that even though it creates problems, it creates more opportunities than it does problems, that it’s better than having all these protectionist devices. I think free trade works better, even though it’s not perfect. There’s no system that’s going to be absolutely perfect. It would be nice if there was, but I don’t think there is. But we can come as close to it as possible. We can get a lot further towards it, and we’re better educated today than we ever have been before. Fifty years ago, half the people in the world were illiterate. Now it’s only about 20 percent of the adults.</p> <p><strong>You’ve invested in renewable energy as well, solar energy. Do you see that as an important step?</strong></p> <p>Ted Turner: Absolutely. We haven’t talked about that, but we’ve got to move away from fossil fuels as quickly as we can, because we’re poisoning the atmosphere and turning the world into a hot house. Yesterday, across most of the East Coast, it was ten degrees hotter than it’s ever been. Ten degrees, not one degree. That’s just gigantic. I was in Washington earlier today, and it was so hot, you could barely go outside.</p> <p><strong>So solar power should help in that</strong>?</p> <p>Ted Turner: Solar power will, wind power, in certain instances bio-fuels. Perhaps we’ll have to take another look at nuclear power, but we’ve got to quit burning up so much Co2. Planting trees, we’re going to have to do all of those things, and I’m trying to do them as much as I can now.</p> <figure id="attachment_12490" style="width: 560px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><noscript><img class="wp-image-12490 size-full " src="https://web.archive.org/web/20190102091545im_/http://162.243.3.155/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/tur0-002-turner.jpg"></noscript><img class="wp-image-12490 size-full lazyload" alt="Ted Turner on his Montana buffalo ranch. He is the country's largest landowner, apart from the federal government. (© Louie Psihoyos/CORBIS)" width="560" height="400" data-sizes="(max-width: 560px) 100vw, 560px" data-srcset="/web/20190102091545im_/http://www.achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/tur0-002-turner.jpg 560w, /web/20190102091545im_/http://www.achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/tur0-002-turner-380x271.jpg 380w" data-src="https://web.archive.org/web/20190102091545/http://162.243.3.155/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/tur0-002-turner.jpg"><figcaption class="wp-caption-text">Ted Turner on his Montana buffalo ranch. He is the country’s largest landowner, apart from the federal government. (© Louie Psihoyos/CORBIS)</figcaption></figure><p><strong>You never stop. Even having one business, there is another business. There is another great ambition. Is that a lesson for young people who might want to be entrepreneurs, to just keep looking forward?</strong></p> <p>Ted Turner: Well, if you want to be an entrepreneur, you better get out there and hustle, because it’s tough out there. There’s a lot of other people trying to get to the top, too. So if you’re going to be an entrepreneur, and if you want to be a success in life, you better be prepared to work hard and be smart and think a lot, at least I think so. Unless you’re just a genius or you just are tremendously lucky. Every now and then, somebody wins the lottery with a two-dollar ticket, worth $20 million with a two-dollar ticket. You can do that. You can play the lottery, but I wouldn’t recommend it.</p> <p><strong>What other lessons do you have for young people wanting to be entrepreneurs?</strong></p> <p>Ted Turner: There’s a little saying that I heard a long time ago. It said the secret of success is “Early to bed, early to rise, work like hell and advertise.”</p> <p><strong>What does the American Dream mean to you?</strong></p> <p>Ted Turner: I don’t think it’s really an American dream. I think it’s the dream of everybody. As I said at the beginning, I was told by my parents and society and my schools to work hard and be a big success, and that’s what I did.</p> <p><strong>What are you most proud of?</strong></p> <p>Ted Turner: I’m most proud of my family. My five children are all doing quite well, and I’m proudest of them. Of my business accomplishments, obviously I’m proudest of CNN, although on any given day at any given time, the Cartoon Network’s audience is about twice as large.</p> <p><strong>The Cartoon Network is a wonderful thing.</strong></p> <p>Ted Turner: I don’t know about that. I liked it better when they ran the Hanna-Barbera stuff — Yogi Bear and the Flintstones — instead of all that violent Japanese <em>anime</em>.</p> <p><strong>Thank you for giving us this time.</strong></p> <p>Ted Turner: Thank you. The last thing I will say is what I’m putting on my tombstone. You didn’t ask me that. The inscription on my tombstone is going to be, “I have nothing more to say.”</p> <p><strong>That will be a sad day.</strong></p> <p>Ted Turner: No, it won’t. It will be a relief. Well, thank you very much.</p> <p><strong>Thank you, sir. Thank you so much.</strong></p> <p>Ted Turner: You’re quite welcome.</p></body></html> </div>  </aside>  <div class="read-more__toggle collapsed" data-toggle="collapse" data-target="#full-interview"><a href="#" class="sans-4 btn">Read full interview</a></div> </article> </section> </div> <div class="tab-pane fade" id="gallery" role="tabpanel"> <section class="isotope-wrapper">  <header class="toolbar toolbar--gallery bg-white clearfix"> <div class="col-md-6"> <div class="serif-4">Robert Edward (Ted) Turner Gallery</div> </div> <div class="col-md-6 text-md-right isotope-toolbar"> <ul class="list-unstyled list-inline m-b-0 text-brand-primary sans-4"> <li class="list-inline-item" data-filter=".photo"><i class="icon-icon_camera"></i>14 photos</li> </ul> </div> </header> <div class="isotope-gallery isotope-box single-achiever__gallery clearfix"> <figure class="isotope-item ratio-container--gallery photo" data-category="photo" data-ratio="1.26171875" title="" data-gtm-category="photo" data-gtm-action="click" data-gtm-label="Achiever - ">   <div class="lazyload ratio-container__image" data-toggle="modal" data-target="#imageModal" data-image-src="/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/tur0-13-turner.jpg" data-image-caption="Ted Turner and his father, Robert Edward Turner, Jr., at Ted's wedding in 1960." data-image-copyright="Ted Turner and his father, Robert Edward Turner, Jr., at Ted's wedding in 1960." data-sizes="auto" data-bgset="/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/tur0-13-turner-301x380.jpg [(max-width:576px)] | /wp-content/uploads/2016/06/tur0-13-turner.jpg"></div>  </figure> <figure class="isotope-item ratio-container--gallery photo" data-category="photo" data-ratio="1.1439842209073" title="" data-gtm-category="photo" data-gtm-action="click" data-gtm-label="Achiever - ">   <div class="lazyload ratio-container__image" data-toggle="modal" data-target="#imageModal" data-image-src="/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/tur0-012-turner.jpg" data-image-caption="Ted Turner, a teenage cadet at the McCallie School." data-image-copyright="Ted Turner, a teenage cadet at the McCallie School." data-sizes="auto" data-bgset="/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/tur0-012-turner-332x380.jpg [(max-width:576px)] | /wp-content/uploads/2016/06/tur0-012-turner.jpg"></div>  </figure> <figure class="isotope-item ratio-container--gallery photo" data-category="photo" data-ratio="1.3523131672598" title="" data-gtm-category="photo" data-gtm-action="click" data-gtm-label="Achiever - ">   <div class="lazyload ratio-container__image" data-toggle="modal" data-target="#imageModal" data-image-src="/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/tur0-010-turner-Turner-Ted-getty-time-cover-53376395_10.jpg" data-image-caption="1991 TIME Man of the Year, media mogul Ted Turner. (Photo by Gregory Heisler/Time Magazine/Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images)" data-image-copyright="TIME cover 01-06-1992 TIME Man of the Year, media" data-sizes="auto" data-bgset="/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/tur0-010-turner-Turner-Ted-getty-time-cover-53376395_10-281x380.jpg [(max-width:576px)] | /wp-content/uploads/2016/06/tur0-010-turner-Turner-Ted-getty-time-cover-53376395_10-562x760.jpg"></div>  </figure> <figure class="isotope-item ratio-container--gallery photo" data-category="photo" data-ratio="0.74078947368421" title="" data-gtm-category="photo" data-gtm-action="click" data-gtm-label="Achiever - ">   <div class="lazyload ratio-container__image" data-toggle="modal" data-target="#imageModal" data-image-src="/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/tur0-009-turner.jpg" data-image-caption="Ted Turner on his ranch near Bozeman, Montana, 1991. (Photo by Ted Thai/Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images)" data-image-copyright="tur0-009-turner" data-sizes="auto" data-bgset="/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/tur0-009-turner-380x281.jpg [(max-width:576px)] | /wp-content/uploads/2016/06/tur0-009-turner-760x563.jpg"></div>  </figure> <figure class="isotope-item ratio-container--gallery photo" data-category="photo" data-ratio="1.4872798434442" title="" data-gtm-category="photo" data-gtm-action="click" data-gtm-label="Achiever - ">   <div class="lazyload ratio-container__image" data-toggle="modal" data-target="#imageModal" data-image-src="/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/tur0-008-turner-Turner-sailing-AP.jpg" data-image-caption="Ted Turner at the helm of <i>Courageous</i>, the yacht he sailed to victory in the 1977 America's Cup race. (Photo by George Silk/Time Life Pictures/Getty Images)" data-image-copyright="tur0-008-turner-Turner sailing, AP" data-sizes="auto" data-bgset="/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/tur0-008-turner-Turner-sailing-AP-256x380.jpg [(max-width:576px)] | /wp-content/uploads/2016/06/tur0-008-turner-Turner-sailing-AP-511x760.jpg"></div>  </figure> <figure class="isotope-item ratio-container--gallery photo" data-category="photo" data-ratio="0.66973684210526" title="" data-gtm-category="photo" data-gtm-action="click" data-gtm-label="Achiever - ">   <div class="lazyload ratio-container__image" data-toggle="modal" data-target="#imageModal" data-image-src="/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/tur0-007-turner-Turner-Ted-Getty-50468411_10.jpg" data-image-caption="Ted Turner, in his Atlanta office, 1991. The plaques on his desk bear his favorite maxim, "Either Lead, Follow or Get Out of the Way." (Photo by Ted Thai/Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images)" data-image-copyright="Ted Turner" data-sizes="auto" data-bgset="/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/tur0-007-turner-Turner-Ted-Getty-50468411_10-380x254.jpg [(max-width:576px)] | /wp-content/uploads/2016/06/tur0-007-turner-Turner-Ted-Getty-50468411_10-760x509.jpg"></div>  </figure> <figure class="isotope-item ratio-container--gallery photo" data-category="photo" data-ratio="1.2730318257956" title="" data-gtm-category="photo" data-gtm-action="click" data-gtm-label="Achiever - ">   <div class="lazyload ratio-container__image" data-toggle="modal" data-target="#imageModal" data-image-src="/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/tur0-006-turner-Turner-Ted-AP-AP760414054.jpg" data-image-caption="Ted Turner sports an Indian headdress at the Atlanta Braves' 1976 home opener, Turner's first season as team owner. (AP Images)" data-image-copyright="TED TURNER" data-sizes="auto" data-bgset="/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/tur0-006-turner-Turner-Ted-AP-AP760414054-299x380.jpg [(max-width:576px)] | /wp-content/uploads/2016/06/tur0-006-turner-Turner-Ted-AP-AP760414054-597x760.jpg"></div>  </figure> <figure class="isotope-item ratio-container--gallery photo" data-category="photo" data-ratio="0.61973684210526" title="" data-gtm-category="photo" data-gtm-action="click" data-gtm-label="Achiever - ">   <div class="lazyload ratio-container__image" data-toggle="modal" data-target="#imageModal" data-image-src="/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/tur0-005-turner-Turner-Ted-AP-AP070322020390.jpg" data-image-caption="Ted Turner surveys an empty Atlanta Stadium in 1976, shortly after buying the Braves baseball team. Today, the Braves play in a newer stadium, known as Turner Field. (AP Images/Charles E. Kelly)" data-image-copyright="Turner" data-sizes="auto" data-bgset="/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/tur0-005-turner-Turner-Ted-AP-AP070322020390-380x236.jpg [(max-width:576px)] | /wp-content/uploads/2016/06/tur0-005-turner-Turner-Ted-AP-AP070322020390-760x471.jpg"></div>  </figure> <figure class="isotope-item ratio-container--gallery photo" data-category="photo" data-ratio="1.048275862069" title="" data-gtm-category="photo" data-gtm-action="click" data-gtm-label="Achiever - ">   <div class="lazyload ratio-container__image" data-toggle="modal" data-target="#imageModal" data-image-src="/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/tur0-004-turner-Turner-Ted-AP-AP96101601291.jpg" data-image-caption="Ted Turner and Jane Fonda cheer on the Atlanta Braves during the 1996 National League Championship series. (AP Images/Dave Martin)" data-image-copyright="TURNER FONDA" data-sizes="auto" data-bgset="/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/tur0-004-turner-Turner-Ted-AP-AP96101601291-363x380.jpg [(max-width:576px)] | /wp-content/uploads/2016/06/tur0-004-turner-Turner-Ted-AP-AP96101601291-725x760.jpg"></div>  </figure> <figure class="isotope-item ratio-container--gallery photo" data-category="photo" data-ratio="1.4887218045113" title="" data-gtm-category="photo" data-gtm-action="click" data-gtm-label="Achiever - ">   <div class="lazyload ratio-container__image" data-toggle="modal" data-target="#imageModal" data-image-src="/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/tur0-003.jpg" data-image-caption="Ted Turner at a 1985 press conference, announcing the creation of the Goodwill Games. (© Robert Maass/CORBIS)" data-image-copyright="tur0-003" data-sizes="auto" data-bgset="/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/tur0-003-255x380.jpg [(max-width:576px)] | /wp-content/uploads/2016/06/tur0-003.jpg"></div>  </figure> <figure class="isotope-item ratio-container--gallery photo" data-category="photo" data-ratio="0.71428571428571" title="" data-gtm-category="photo" data-gtm-action="click" data-gtm-label="Achiever - ">   <div class="lazyload ratio-container__image" data-toggle="modal" data-target="#imageModal" data-image-src="/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/tur0-002-turner.jpg" data-image-caption="Ted Turner on his Montana buffalo ranch. He is the country's largest landowner, apart from the federal government. (© Louie Psihoyos/CORBIS)" data-image-copyright="tur0-002-turner" data-sizes="auto" data-bgset="/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/tur0-002-turner-380x271.jpg [(max-width:576px)] | /wp-content/uploads/2016/06/tur0-002-turner.jpg"></div>  </figure> <figure class="isotope-item ratio-container--gallery photo" data-category="photo" data-ratio="1.0174029451138" title="" data-gtm-category="photo" data-gtm-action="click" data-gtm-label="Achiever - ">   <div class="lazyload ratio-container__image" data-toggle="modal" data-target="#imageModal" data-image-src="/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/tur0-001-turner-turner-ted-corbis-AAMK001374.jpg" data-image-caption="Ted Turner at CNN headquarters in Atlanta in the 1990s. (© Louie Psihoyos/CORBIS)" data-image-copyright="Ted Turner" data-sizes="auto" data-bgset="/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/tur0-001-turner-turner-ted-corbis-AAMK001374-373x380.jpg [(max-width:576px)] | /wp-content/uploads/2016/06/tur0-001-turner-turner-ted-corbis-AAMK001374-747x760.jpg"></div>  </figure> <figure class="isotope-item ratio-container--gallery photo" data-category="photo" data-ratio="1" title="" data-gtm-category="photo" data-gtm-action="click" data-gtm-label="Achiever - ">   <div class="lazyload ratio-container__image" data-toggle="modal" data-target="#imageModal" data-image-src="/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/turner-760_ac.jpg" data-image-caption="Ted Turner" data-image-copyright="turner-760_ac" data-sizes="auto" data-bgset="/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/turner-760_ac-380x380.jpg [(max-width:576px)] | /wp-content/uploads/2016/06/turner-760_ac.jpg"></div>  </figure> <figure class="isotope-item ratio-container--gallery photo" data-category="photo" data-ratio="0.4" title="" data-gtm-category="photo" data-gtm-action="click" data-gtm-label="Achiever - ">   <div class="lazyload ratio-container__image" data-toggle="modal" data-target="#imageModal" data-image-src="/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/turner-Feature-Image-2800x1120.jpg" data-image-caption="Ted Turner, in his Atlanta office, 1991. The plaques on his desk bear his favorite maxim, "Either Lead, Follow or Get Out of the Way." (Photo by Ted Thai/Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images)" data-image-copyright="turner-Feature-Image-2800x1120" data-sizes="auto" data-bgset="/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/turner-Feature-Image-2800x1120-380x152.jpg [(max-width:576px)] | /wp-content/uploads/2016/03/turner-Feature-Image-2800x1120-760x304.jpg"></div>  </figure>    </div> </section> </div> </div> <div class="container"> <footer class="editorial-article__footer col-md-8 col-md-offset-4"> <div class="editorial-article__next-link sans-3"> <a href="#"><strong>What's next:</strong> <span class="editorial-article__next-link-title">profile</span></a> </div> <ul class="social list-unstyled list-inline ssk-group m-b-0"> <li class="list-inline-item"><a href="" class="ssk ssk-facebook" data-gtm-category="social" data-gtm-action="click" data-gtm-label="Shared Achiever on Facebook"><i class="icon-icon_facebook-circle"></i></a></li> <li class="list-inline-item"><a href="" class="ssk ssk-twitter" data-gtm-category="social" data-gtm-action="click" data-gtm-label="Shared Achiever on Twitter"><i class="icon-icon_twitter-circle"></i></a></li>  <li class="list-inline-item"><a href="" class="ssk ssk-email" data-gtm-category="social" data-gtm-action="click" data-gtm-label="Shared Achiever via Email"><i class="icon-icon_email-circle"></i></a></li> </ul> <time class="editorial-article__last-updated sans-6">This page last revised on August 1, 2018</time> <div class="sans-4"><a href="/web/20190102091545/http://www.achievement.org/how-to-cite" target="_blank">How to cite this page</a></div> </footer> </div> <div class="container interview-related-achievers"> <hr class="m-t-3 m-b-3"/> <footer class="clearfix small-blocks text-xs-center"> <h3 class="m-b-3 serif-3">If you are inspired by this achiever’s story, you might also enjoy:</h3> <div class="centered-blocks"> <div class="isotope-achiever sports challenges athletic " data-year-inducted="1977" data-achiever-name="Aaron"> <div class="achiever-block view-grid"> <a href="/web/20190102091545/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/hank-aaron/"> <figure class="ratio-container ratio-container--square bg-black"> <div class="lazyload box achiever-block__image" data-sizes="auto" data-bgset="/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/HankAaron-e1453912195145-190x190.jpg [(max-width:576px)] | /wp-content/uploads/2016/01/HankAaron-e1453912195145.jpg"></div> <div class="achiever-block__overlay"></div> <figcaption class="text-xs-center achiever-block__text"> <div class="display--table"> <div class="display--table-cell"> <div class="achiever-block__text--center"> <div class="achiever-block__name text-brand-primary">Hank Aaron</div> <div class="achiever-block__known-as text-white sans-6">Baseball Immortal</div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="text-white achiever-block__text--bottom"> <div class="achiever-block__year sans-4">Inducted in <span class="year-inducted">1977</span></div> </div> </figcaption> </figure> </a> </div> </div> </div> <div class="centered-blocks"> <div class="isotope-achiever business ambitious analytical curious extroverted resourceful start-a-business " data-year-inducted="1998" data-achiever-name="Dell"> <div class="achiever-block view-grid"> <a href="/web/20190102091545/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/michael-dell/"> <figure class="ratio-container ratio-container--square bg-black"> <div class="lazyload box achiever-block__image" data-sizes="auto" data-bgset="/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/del0-001a-190x190.jpg [(max-width:576px)] | /wp-content/uploads/2016/03/del0-001a-380x380.jpg"></div> <div class="achiever-block__overlay"></div> <figcaption class="text-xs-center achiever-block__text"> <div class="display--table"> <div class="display--table-cell"> <div class="achiever-block__text--center"> <div class="achiever-block__name text-brand-primary">Michael S. 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Gates III</div> <div class="achiever-block__known-as text-white sans-6">Co-founder, Microsoft Corporation</div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="text-white achiever-block__text--bottom"> <div class="achiever-block__year sans-4">Inducted in <span class="year-inducted">1992</span></div> </div> </figcaption> </figure> </a> </div> </div> </div> <div class="centered-blocks"> <div class="isotope-achiever business ambitious analytical start-a-business " data-year-inducted="1994" data-achiever-name="Slim"> <div class="achiever-block view-grid"> <a href="/web/20190102091545/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/carlos-slim/"> <figure class="ratio-container ratio-container--square bg-black"> <div class="lazyload box achiever-block__image" data-sizes="auto" data-bgset="/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/slim-001a-190x190.jpg [(max-width:576px)] | /wp-content/uploads/2016/06/slim-001a-380x380.jpg"></div> <div class="achiever-block__overlay"></div> <figcaption class="text-xs-center achiever-block__text"> 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class="achiever-list-name">Hank Aaron</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190102091545/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/kareem-abdul-jabbar/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Kareem Abdul-Jabbar</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190102091545/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/lynsey-addario/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Lynsey Addario</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190102091545/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/edward-albee/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Edward Albee</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190102091545/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/tenley-albright-m-d/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Tenley Albright, M.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190102091545/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/svetlana-alexievich/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Svetlana Alexievich</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190102091545/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/julie-andrews/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Dame Julie Andrews</span></a> </li> 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Ballard, Ph.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190102091545/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/sir-roger-bannister-2/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Sir Roger Bannister</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190102091545/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/john-banville/"><span class="achiever-list-name">John Banville</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190102091545/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/ehud-barak/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Ehud Barak</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190102091545/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/lee-r-berger-ph-d/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Lee R. 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Carter Brown</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190102091545/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/linda-buck/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Linda Buck, Ph.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190102091545/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/carol-burnett/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Carol Burnett</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190102091545/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/george-h-w-bush/"><span class="achiever-list-name">George H. W. Bush</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190102091545/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/susan-butcher/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Susan Butcher</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190102091545/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/james-cameron/"><span class="achiever-list-name">James Cameron</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190102091545/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/benjamin-s-carson/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Benjamin S. Carson, M.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190102091545/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/jimmy-carter/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Jimmy Carter</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190102091545/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/johnny-cash/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Johnny Cash</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190102091545/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/william-j-clinton/"><span class="achiever-list-name">William J. Clinton</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190102091545/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/francis-s-collins/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Francis S. Collins, M.D., Ph.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190102091545/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/denton-a-cooley/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Denton A. Cooley, M.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190102091545/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/francis-ford-coppola/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Francis Ford Coppola</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190102091545/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/ray-dalio/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Ray Dalio</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190102091545/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/olivia-de-havilland/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Dame Olivia de Havilland</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190102091545/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/michael-e-debakey-m-d/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Michael E. DeBakey, M.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190102091545/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/michael-dell/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Michael S. Dell</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190102091545/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/ron-dennis/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Ron Dennis</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190102091545/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/joan-didion/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Joan Didion</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190102091545/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/david-herbert-donald-ph-d/"><span class="achiever-list-name">David Herbert Donald, Ph.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190102091545/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/david-doubilet/"><span class="achiever-list-name">David Doubilet</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190102091545/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/rita-dove/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Rita Dove</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190102091545/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/sylvia-earle/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Sylvia Earle, Ph.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190102091545/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/elbaradei/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Mohamed ElBaradei</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190102091545/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/gertrude-elion/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Gertrude B. Elion, M.Sc.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190102091545/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/larry-j-ellison/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Larry J. Ellison</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190102091545/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/nora-ephron/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Nora Ephron</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190102091545/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/julius-erving/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Julius Erving</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190102091545/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/tony-fadell/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Tony Fadell</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190102091545/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/paul-farmer/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Paul Farmer, M.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190102091545/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/suzanne-farrell/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Suzanne Farrell</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190102091545/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/anthony-s-fauci-m-d/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Anthony S. Fauci, M.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190102091545/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/sally-field/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Sally Field</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190102091545/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/lord-norman-foster/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Lord Norman Foster</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190102091545/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/aretha-franklin/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Aretha Franklin</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190102091545/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/milton-friedman-ph-d/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Milton Friedman, Ph.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190102091545/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/carlos-fuentes/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Carlos Fuentes</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190102091545/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/athol-fugard/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Athol Fugard</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190102091545/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/ernest-j-gaines/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Ernest J. Gaines</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190102091545/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/william-h-gates-iii/"><span class="achiever-list-name">William H. Gates III</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190102091545/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/leymah-gbowee/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Leymah Gbowee</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190102091545/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/frank-gehry/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Frank O. Gehry</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190102091545/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/murray-gell-mann-ph-d/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Murray Gell-Mann, Ph.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190102091545/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/carlos-ghosn/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Carlos Ghosn</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190102091545/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/vince-gill/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Vince Gill</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190102091545/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/ruth-bader-ginsburg/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Ruth Bader Ginsburg</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190102091545/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/louise-gluck/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Louise Glück</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190102091545/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/whoopi-goldberg/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Whoopi Goldberg</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190102091545/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/jane-goodall/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Dame Jane Goodall</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190102091545/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/doris-kearns-goodwin/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Doris Kearns Goodwin, Ph.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190102091545/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/mikhail-s-gorbachev/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Mikhail S. Gorbachev</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190102091545/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/nadine-gordimer/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Nadine Gordimer</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190102091545/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/stephen-jay-gould/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Stephen Jay Gould, Ph.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190102091545/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/carol-greider-ph-d/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Carol Greider, Ph.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190102091545/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/john-grisham/"><span class="achiever-list-name">John Grisham</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190102091545/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/sir-john-gurdon/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Sir John Gurdon</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190102091545/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/dorothy-hamill/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Dorothy Hamill</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190102091545/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/demis-hassabis-ph-d/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Demis Hassabis, Ph.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190102091545/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/lauryn-hill/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Lauryn Hill</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190102091545/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/sir-edmund-hillary/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Sir Edmund Hillary</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190102091545/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/reid-hoffman/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Reid Hoffman</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190102091545/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/khaled-hosseini/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Khaled Hosseini, M.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190102091545/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/ron-howard/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Ron Howard</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190102091545/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/john-hume/"><span class="achiever-list-name">John Hume</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190102091545/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/louis-ignarro-ph-d/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Louis Ignarro, Ph.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190102091545/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/daniel-inouye/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Daniel K. Inouye</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190102091545/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/jeremy-irons/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Jeremy Irons</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190102091545/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/john-irving/"><span class="achiever-list-name">John Irving</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190102091545/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/kazuo-ishiguro/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Kazuo Ishiguro</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190102091545/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/sir-peter-jackson/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Sir Peter Jackson</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190102091545/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/donald-c-johanson/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Donald C. Johanson, Ph.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190102091545/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/frank-m-johnson/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Frank M. Johnson, Jr.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190102091545/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/philip-johnson/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Philip C. Johnson</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190102091545/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/chuck-jones/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Chuck Jones</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190102091545/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/james-earl-jones/"><span class="achiever-list-name">James Earl Jones</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190102091545/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/quincy-jones/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Quincy Jones</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190102091545/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/beverly-joubert/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Beverly Joubert</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190102091545/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/dereck-joubert/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Dereck Joubert</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190102091545/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/paul-kagame/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Paul Kagame</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190102091545/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/thomas-keller-2/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Thomas Keller</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190102091545/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/anthony-m-kennedy/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Anthony M. Kennedy</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190102091545/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/b-b-king/"><span class="achiever-list-name">B.B. King</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190102091545/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/carole-king/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Carole King</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190102091545/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/coretta-scott-king/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Coretta Scott King</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190102091545/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/henry-kissinger-ph-d/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Henry A. Kissinger, Ph.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190102091545/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/willem-j-kolff/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Willem J. Kolff, M.D., Ph.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190102091545/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/wendy-kopp/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Wendy Kopp</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190102091545/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/henry-r-kravis/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Henry R. Kravis</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190102091545/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/nicholas-d-kristof/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Nicholas D. Kristof</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190102091545/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/mike-krzyzewski/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Mike Krzyzewski</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190102091545/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/ray-kurzwell/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Ray Kurzweil</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190102091545/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/eric-lander-ph-d/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Eric S. Lander, Ph.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190102091545/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/robert-s-langer-ph-d/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Robert S. Langer, Sc.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190102091545/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/richard-leakey/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Richard E. Leakey</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190102091545/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/leon-lederman-ph-d/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Leon Lederman, Ph.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190102091545/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/robert-lefkowitz-m-d/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Robert J. Lefkowitz, M.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190102091545/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/congressman-john-r-lewis/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Congressman John R. Lewis</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190102091545/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/maya-lin/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Maya Lin</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190102091545/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/george-lucas/"><span class="achiever-list-name">George Lucas</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190102091545/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/norman-mailer/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Norman Mailer</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190102091545/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/peyton-manning/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Peyton Manning</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190102091545/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/wynton-marsalis/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Wynton Marsalis</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190102091545/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/john-c-mather-ph-d/"><span class="achiever-list-name">John C. Mather, Ph.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190102091545/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/johnny-mathis/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Johnny Mathis</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190102091545/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/ernst-mayr-ph-d/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Ernst Mayr, Ph.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190102091545/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/willie-mays/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Willie Mays</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190102091545/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/frank-mccourt/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Frank McCourt</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190102091545/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/david-mccullough/"><span class="achiever-list-name">David McCullough</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190102091545/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/audra-mcdonald/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Audra McDonald</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190102091545/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/admiral-william-h-mcraven/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Admiral William H. McRaven, USN</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190102091545/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/w-s-merwin/"><span class="achiever-list-name">W. S. Merwin</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190102091545/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/james-a-michener/"><span class="achiever-list-name">James A. Michener</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190102091545/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/marvin-minsky-ph-d/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Marvin Minsky, Ph.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190102091545/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/mario-j-molina-ph-d/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Mario J. Molina, Ph.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190102091545/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/n-scott-momaday-ph-d/"><span class="achiever-list-name">N. Scott Momaday, Ph.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190102091545/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/story-musgrave/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Story Musgrave, M.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190102091545/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/ralph-nader/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Ralph Nader</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190102091545/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/peggy-noonan/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Peggy Noonan</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190102091545/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/jessye-norman/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Jessye Norman</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190102091545/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/tommy-norris/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Lt. Thomas R. Norris, USN</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190102091545/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/joyce-carol-oates/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Joyce Carol Oates</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190102091545/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/pierre-omidyar/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Pierre Omidyar</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190102091545/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/jimmy-page/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Jimmy Page</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190102091545/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/larry-page/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Larry Page</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190102091545/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/arnold-palmer/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Arnold Palmer</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190102091545/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/leon-panetta/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Leon Panetta</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190102091545/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/rosa-parks/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Rosa Parks</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190102091545/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/suzan-lori-parks/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Suzan-Lori Parks</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190102091545/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/linus-pauling/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Linus C. 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Smith</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190102091545/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/stephen-sondheim/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Stephen Sondheim</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190102091545/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/sonia-sotomayor/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Sonia Sotomayor</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190102091545/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/wole-soyinka/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Wole Soyinka</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190102091545/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/esperanza-spalding/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Esperanza Spalding</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190102091545/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/martha-stewart/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Martha Stewart</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190102091545/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/admiral-james-b-stockdale/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Admiral James B. 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Michael E. Thornton, USN</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190102091545/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/charles-h-townes-ph-d/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Charles H. 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