Ted Turner, the 86-year-old media mogul who founded CNN more than four decades ago, was hospitalized after a bout with pneumonia, according to a report.
Turner was said to be recovering at a Florida rehab center after a recent hospitalization for what was described as a “mild case of pneumonia,” one of his reps told TMZ.
The cable news pioneer “expects a full recovery,” according to the rep.
In 2018, Turner revealed that he had been diagnosed with Lewy body dementia, a progressive neurological disorder caused by abnormal protein accumulation that disrupts normal brain function.
“It’s a mild case of what people have like Alzheimer’s. It is similar to that. But not that bad. Alzheimer’s is fatal,” Turner told reporter Ted Koppel in an interview broadcast on CBS Sunday Morning.
“Thank God I don’t have it. But, I also have, let’s – what it is – I don’t remember his name,” Turner said at the time.
“Dementia. I don’t remember what my illness is,” he added.
Asked what his symptoms are, Turner told Koppel, “Tired. Exhausted. These are the main symptoms and forgetfulness.”
Lewy body dementia affects about 1.4 million Americans, and symptoms can include memory problems and behavioral changes, according to the Lewy Body Dementia Association.
An autopsy of comedian Robin Williams, who died by suicide in 2014, revealed he had the disorder.
In 2021, Turner, who is also a bison rancher, donated an 80,000-acre ranch he owns in western Nebraska to his environmental nonprofit — though he said he would continue to pay taxes on the land.
State officials feared that Turner — Nebraska’s largest landowner with nearly 500,000 acres of farmland in western Nebraska — could turn the land over to a nonprofit and take large tracts of land off the property tax rolls.
Turner’s life’s work also included founding TBS and the Turner Broadcasting System, which included cable channels TNT, TBS and Cartoon Network. He also started Turner Classic Movies.
The billionaire media mogul also once owned the Atlanta Braves baseball team and the Atlanta Hawks basketball team.
Turner was married to actress Jane Fonda between 1991 and 2001 before they divorced.
The Post has reached out to Turner for comment.
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