The Fascinating Life Of Media Giant Ted Turner

He Was Fired After Turner Broadcasting Merged With Time Warner

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Turner Broadcasting merged with Time Warner in 1996, and that spelled trouble for Ted’s career. He became vice chairman of the company but made waves when he made others know he was opposed to a merger with AOL. Ted knew his role in the business would be reduced, but he was stunned in 2000 when he was “reassigned.”

“For the first time in my life, I’d been fired,” Ted wrote in his book. He later recalled: “I thought I’d been doing a good job — I’d been Time’s man of the year [in 1991]. No one else there had been Man of the Year. They fired the only one who had.”