LAMONT, Fla. (RFD News) —Ted Turner, one of America’s largest individual landowners and a longtime advocate for land preservation, died at the age of 87. Turner is widely known for transforming television news after launching CNN, the nation’s first 24-hour news network.
As his media empire expanded, so did his landholdings, eventually growing to roughly 2 million acres across 8 states and 13 ranches.
Much of his agricultural focus centered on expanding bison populations in the West, with his herd growing to approximately 45,000 head over the years.
Turner also became known for conservation and wildlife restoration efforts across his properties, including efforts to preserve open land and protect native ecosystems.
In 2018, Turner publicly revealed he had been diagnosed with Lewy body dementia, a progressive neurological disease.