Ted Turner, the media mogul who changed the face of news broadcasting with 24-hour rolling news on his cable channel CNN has died. A flamboyant character he was variously described as “the Mouth from the South”; “a bulldog that won’t let go”; “a mixture of genius and jackass”; and “probably the most competitive guy you would ever meet.”
He was also a world class yachtsman, winning the 1977 America’s Cup and the 1979 Fastnet Race after storms wrecked many other competitors and caused the loss of 19 lives.
He also found the time and energy to be a serial philanderer, marrying Jane Fonda along the way of a complicated romantic life. But it was not obvious that wealth and celebrity had brought him happiness or peace of mind. One friend observed his life had been spent wrestling with “three bears… an insecurity that can be traced back to his abusive father; a manic, restless nature; and lust.”
After the dotcom bust wrecked his AOL-Time Warner merger, costing him $8 billion in 2000, he devoted his energies to (as he modestly put it) “saving the world”. He gave $1 billion to the UN and his Turner Foundation supported environmental initiatives, policies to curb population growth and he worked to reduce the peril from nuclear, chemical and biological weapons.
He was born 19 November 1938 8.50 am Cincinnati, Ohio, with a depressive, overbearing father, owner of a successful billboard advertising company who later committed suicide when Ted was in his mid twenties.
He had a 12th house creative and seductively charming Sun Venus in Scorpio square an expansive Jupiter and in an intense trine to an 8th house Pluto; with a friendly and humanitarian 11th house Libra Moon. A chatty outspoken Mercury on his Ascendant added onto an enthusiastic 3rd house Jupiter in Aquarius would make him a turbo-charged talker. What dominates his chart is a yod of an ambitious 10th house Mars sextile communicative Mercury Ascendant inconjunct Uranus in his 5th house of entertainment and sport, as well as romance. Such a apex Uranus would make him a trailblazer, though also wayward and defiant. Not surprisingly his Uranus opposed the North Node tying him into the spirit of the time as he pushed forward with new advances in communication. His Mars opposed a 4th house Saturn giving him a hard-driving edge, a legacy of his damaged father. His Sun/Moon midpoint, significator of close relationships, was opposition his inconstant Uranus.
When the 2000 dotcom crash led to his untypically understated retreat from global communication into philanthropy, tr Pluto was crossing his Ascendant bringing a slow transformation of his image. Tr Uranus was square his yod apex Uranus and tr Saturn was conjunct his Uranus as well and opposition his North Node – prompting him onto a new track.
Jane Fonda, 21 December 1937 9.14 am New York, is a Sun Venus in Sagittarius with a Leo Moon, which would suit his Sagittarius Ascendant if not his hidden Sun Venus in Scorpio. Their relationship chart had its light hearted, affectionate side but was never destined to settle into togetherness with an errant composite Uranus inconjunct Sun Venus and an irritable Moon square Mars.
A mover and shaker with an interesting chart.
I’d take Ted Turner over Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk, Peter Thiel, and the Ellisons combined, any day of the week. Turner seemed like a decent, genuine normal guy who “got it” and gave back. Far better than we can say for the current crop of billionaire magnates.
A shame to see his legacy, CNN, soon to be trashed by the dreadfully tone deaf Bari Weiss. Irony preceded Turner in death. He might have well been happy to join it at this point.
I worked for Ted Turner.
He was an amazing inspiring boss.
He created so much and left people alone to do their jobs. His unique abilities are so rare. When you walked into Turner Broadcasting you could feel the vibe. The alumni of his works is vast.
His ASC/DSC and MC/IC axis is in the same sign as the US Sibly chart, with the Asc exactly the same at 12 Sagittarius. He made a big impact on the collective consciousness.
AND the Mc/IC is also the exact same at 1 degree Libra/Aries. Lots of humanitarian and truth seeking qualities.