Media Mogul Ted Turner Leaves Behind Five Children — Meet His Family
Meet Laura, Teddy, Beau, Rhett, and Jennie.
Published May 6 2026, 2:19 p.m. ET
Medi modul and CNN founder Ted Turner died on May 6, 2026, and people are curious about his family, and who will inherit his $2,8 billion fortune. Ted was married three times and has five children, and one of his wives was the movie star Jane Fonda.
Ted built his fortune in the media industry with several broadcasting networks, including TNT, TCM, and TBS, in addition to CNN. He also founded the Cartoon Network and owned several sports teams throughout his lifetime.
Ted was also infamous for having multiple girlfriends concurrently following his last divorce, so who will inherit his wealth?
"My wonderful family and I at my grandson's graduation over the weekend," Ted wrote in 2018.
Ted Turner leaves behind five children — who will inherit?
Ted had five children from two marriages. The media mogul married Julia Gale Nye in 1960, and they welcomed two children, Laura and Robert Edward Turner IV (Teddy), before divorcing in 1964.
In 1965, Ted married Jane Shirley Smith, and they had three children, Rhett, Beau, and Jennie. They divorced in 1998, and Ted married Jane Fonda in 1991, but they divorced 10 years later.
In addition to his many business ventures, Ted was also an environmentalist, and his daughter, Laura, followed in his footsteps, per People.
“Taking care of the environment is in my DNA,” she said. “We composted, weeded the yard instead of using chemicals, and my dad took us around our neighborhood to pick up trash. We learned from him that you take action. You don't let other people do the work for you.”
Teddy has worked as a sales executive, a school teacher, and he even ran for Congress as a Republican back in 2013. He currently spends his time at Turner Enterprises, and he once said that his dad didn't shower his kids with wealth and taught them independence.
"My dad drove an economy car, a Datsun V210," he said. "On the day I finished college, he gave me two weeks to get my things out of his house. He taught us independence."
Rhett is a photographer who also founded Red Sky Productions, a documentary film production company. He is also an environmentalist and authored the photography book, Conserving America’s Wildlands.
"My talented son — Rhett Turner, a gifted filmmaker, photographer, & storyteller," Ted tweeted before his death. "The book showcases my love for the planet."
Beauregard Turner is also into the environment and founded the Beau Turner Youth Conservation Center, an organization focused on getting children involved in outdoor activities in nature and learning about wildlife. Beau also serves on the board of several wildlife and environmental protection organizations.
Jennie Turner combines her love of the environment with entertainment and works as the executive producer/host for EcoSense for Living on PBS, and she also serves on the board for the National Zoo.
It is believed that Ted's children will inherit his large fortune; however, he was also a philanthropist who donated $1 billion to the charities of the United Nations, so it's possible that he left a portion of his wealth to charity.