Ted Turner Biography

Author: Ted Turner (USA), translated by Han Ping and others
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2007-01-01
Features: One of Business Week's Top Ten Business Books of the Year, and Financial Times' Best Media Read of the Year. Ted Turner, the last revolutionary and creative warrior in the media industry, founded CNN, which changed the world and the relationship between the public and the government. There is no doubt that Ted Turner is a rare media mogul of the millennium, and also a classic case in the study of human behavior complexity. In the book "The Ted Turner Story," Ken Auletta tells both stories wonderfully. – Norman Lear (American television producer)
Ken Auletta's book portrays Turner so vividly, revealing his intelligence and wisdom. In today's world, who could be more fascinating than Ted Turner? – In the transformation of television news, this cowboy-like entrepreneur fought bravely and completely changed the way people communicate information. From the president to the common people, from CEOs to ordinary employees, no one could escape his influence. Therefore, we can truly say that Turner changed the world. – Lesley Stahl (60 Minutes producer)
On the surface, Ted Turner seems far removed from the CEO we imagine, due to his habit of speaking bluntly and his unrestrained aggressiveness. However, his courage and far-sightedness are no less than those of any CEO. It was with such talents that Ted Turner was able to start from an inconspicuous small company and eventually build a miraculous media empire in the cable industry. To provide his television stations with rich and stable programming sources, he spent heavily acquiring professional sports teams and film archives. He once risked the entire company's assets in two bold, all-or-nothing moves: the first was to bet everything on creating the world's first 24-hour cable news channel, CNN; the second was to acquire MGM's film archive at an exorbitant price to launch a new cable programming channel. During this period, he even personally served as captain, leading the "Courage" sailboat to win the America's Cup, and his many absurd and exaggerated actions as the "Captain of Courage" became headlines in major media. In the 1990s, the empire under his rule expanded rapidly, and he even harbored ambitions to use this as a capital to acquire CBS. Later, Time Warner acquired Turner Broadcasting but excluded Turner himself, as his pirate-like adventurous spirit clashed with the large, disciplined style of the company. Everyone was delighted; but later events proved that for Turner, this merger was nothing short of a disaster: he was stripped of real power in the company's management, and even his great achievements, which he had always been proud of, fell into internal conflicts and mutual accusations. Now, Turner is a fallen hero, but he and his "all-live" CNN will remain as legends in the history of media in our memories. Ted Turner, CEO of CNN. His father was forced to commit suicide due to poor company management, but he turned things around and extended the family's influence into the media industry, successfully gaining a reputation for innovation.