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Ted Turner's cause of death revealed? All we know about his brain disorder and health history
Ted Turner, the media mogul who built CNN and TBS, has died at 87.
Ted Turner, the media mogul who built CNN, has died on Wednesday at his home near Tallahassee in Florida. He was 87. Phillip Evans, a spokesman for the family has confirmed the death, according to the New York Times.
“Ted was an intensely involved and committed leader, intrepid, fearless and always willing to back a hunch and trust his own judgement,” Mark Thompson, Chairman and CEO of CNN Worldwide, said in a statement.
“He was and always will be the presiding spirit of CNN. Ted is the giant on whose shoulders we stand, and we will all take a moment today to recognize him and his impact on our lives and the world," as per CNN.
The cause of his death has not been made public yet.
Turner had been living with Lewy body dementia, which is a progressive brain disorder. He opened up about the disorder publicly in 2018.
Ted Turner's health history
Turner had announced in 2018 that he was living with Lewy body dementia, a progressive brain disorder, according to CNN.
Phillip Evans, the chief communications officer for Turner Enterprises said in a statement: "While he was diagnosed with Lewy Body dementia in 2018 and despite the health challenges it presents, Ted continues to remain resilient and engaged in his professional and personal endeavors."
Lewy body dementia (LBD) is one of the most common types of dementia after Alzheimer's disease. It is a brain disorder that can lead to problems with thinking, movement, behavior and mood, as per NHS
It affects about 1.4 million Americans, according to the Lewy Body Dementia Association.
In January 2025, Turner had also been hospitalized with a mild case of pneumonia and was recovering at a rehabilitation facility, as per CNN.
Ted Turner’s hard-drinking past
Heavy drinking was a well-documented part of Turner's life for decades. At the 1977 America's Cup victory, he was too drunk to finish his own victory speech at a nationally televised news conference. Time magazine reported that during the Cup eliminations, he "flirted with every girl in sight, crawled pubs with his crew, got tossed out of chic clubs and restaurants for boozy behavior."
By the 1990s, his colleagues and employees began reporting that Turner had mellowed. In interviews, Turner said he had begun taking lithium, a drug often prescribed to counter manic-depressive behavior, according to New York Times.
In a 1998 Reader's Digest article, Turner told journalist Dale Van Atta, “I'm trying to set the all-time record for achievement by one person in one lifetime.”
