Interview With Ted Turner

The business mogul talks about his new book, Call Me Ted, and about overcoming troubles, both public and private, to build a successful empire.

His father committed suicide when Robert Edward Turner III was 24, but there was no time to mourn: The son took over and saved the family's billboard business and grew it relentlessly. Ted Turner launched Turner Broadcast-ing, founded CNN, bought the Atlanta Braves, and sailed Courageous to victory in the America's Cup races.

By his 40s, Turner was worth a billion dollars. When he sold his company to Time Warner, he became its largest shareholder; by 1997, his wealth had swelled to $3.2 billion. To celebrate his good fortune, he gave $1 billion to the United Nations—the largest gift in its history.
Another mogul might have regretted that generosity when Time Warner merged with America Online and his net worth tumbled, but Ted Turner just moved on to fresh ambitions, including saving the planet and raising bison.

In his new memoir, Call Me Ted (Grand Central Publishing), the 70-year-old entrepreneur holds forth on a life of professional achievement, personal triumph, and planetary consciousness. He doesn't shrink from the troubles he's faced: his father's death, his three marriages (including one to Jane Fonda), and his bipolar disorder. In conversation, he's equally forthright. Reader's Digest spoke with Turner and, in the spirit of his book's title, called him Ted and asked him anything.

Q. Your father spanked you and refused to pay for college. Yet you went to work for him. Why?
A. I loved him. He always had pretty decent reasons for what he did. I knew the business, I liked it, I was the only son, and I was the apple of his eye—it was the smart thing to do. I've always tried to do the smartest and best thing. Mostly, my judgment has been pretty good.

Q. That judgment led you to start CNN in 1980. You were way ahead of the pack in terms of seeing the potential of cable. Do you still watch CNN?
A. All the time.

Q. With pleasure? Or does anything about it bug you?
A. This company came out of my head and heart, and I'd hoped we'd do more than make money. It does bug me a bit that CNN USA has cut back on environmental and international coverage.

Q. At an early age, you used to tell people that you wanted to become "the world's greatest sailor, businessman, and lover all at the same time," according to your book. How'd that work out for you?
A. I was exhausted.

Q. You've dealt with scores of people during your years in business. How frustrating is it to deal with those who don't think outside the box?
A. I never thought of it from that viewpoint. I believe anyone can change. But when you're dealing with large corporations and boards, the box can be useful. Look at Jerry Levin [former CEO of Time Warner]. When he made the AOL deal, he was outside the box. Clearly, thinking outside the box isn't always the best idea.

Q. You're the largest individual landholder in America—
A. Rockefeller Center is only 12 acres, but it's worth more.

Q. Okay, the largest landholder by acreage in the country. You have a vast, open tract in Montana and advocate clean energy. Would you put wind turbines on your land?
A. Absolutely. And solar panels where appropriate. I'm investigating that right now. I think wind turbines and solar panels look great. I'd rather look out at a wind turbine than a coal-burning plant.

Q. You write, "My main thing is to rid the world of nuclear weapons."
Any progress?
A. Big progress. Henry Kissinger, George Shultz, Sam Nunn, and William Perry have called for "a world free of nuclear weapons." How can we tell Iran they can't have four nukes when we have 12,000? War with Iran wouldn't be fun. War with Russia would be catastrophic. War is no longer any kind of answer. We've spent $1 trillion on the war in Iraq. We could have bought Iraq for a quarter of that.

Q. In your book, you quote Jane Fonda saying, "Ted can't sit still, because if you sit still, demons catch up with you. He has to keep moving." Have you slowed down at all after a lifetime of work and sport?
A. I haven't wanted to slow down, but I have. I'm 70 now. After 18 hours a day for 25 years, I was tired.

Q. Other than your own, what causes impress you now?
A. Anything that works to make the world a kinder, fairer, more equitable place.

Q. Who's your biggest inspiration?
A. When I was young, my heroes were Alexander the Great and Horatio Nelson. I even had statues of them. Now they've been replaced by Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr.

Q. "The mouth of the South"—is that your image, or should we take you as the guy with the big personality, warts and all?
A. You'll have to make that decision for yourself.

From Reader's Digest - December 2008

 

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