Ted Turner Charity Work, Events and Causes

Ted Turner made a $1 billion pledge to the United Nations Foundation – an organization he set up himself – in 1997.

He established The Turner Foundation in 1990 to support efforts for improving air and water quality, developing a sustainable energy future to protect the climate, safeguarding environmental health, maintaining wildlife habitat protection, and developing practices and policies to curb population growth rates.

The Captain Planet Foundation was founded in 1991 to educate and empower children on how to make a positive impact on their own lives and the health of their communities.

He established the Turner Endangered Species Fund in 1997 to conserve biodiversity by emphasizing restoration efforts of endangered or imperiled species on the Turner properties.

Turner launched the Nuclear Threat Initiative, a foundation he co-chairs with former Senator Sam Nunn, in 2001 to close the growing and increasingly dangerous gap between the threat from nuclear, chemical and biological weapons and the global response.

Throughout his career, Ted Turner has won recognition for his entrepreneurial acumen; sharp business skills; a vision that transformed television; leadership qualities that won sports championships; and his unprecedented philanthropy. Since the early 1970’s, Ted Turner has stepped into the international spotlight with one accomplishment after another. Whether in billboard advertisement, cable television, sports team ownership, sailing, environmental initiatives or philanthropy—Turner’s vision, determination, generosity and forthrightness have consistently given the world reason to take notice.

Turner has also made his mark as one of the most influential philanthropists in the U.S. In September 1997, Turner announced his historic pledge of up to $1 billion to the United Nations Foundation (UNF). He now dedicates his time and resources to making the world a better, safer place for future generations. His current philanthropic interests include: the Turner Foundation, the United Nations Foundation, the Nuclear Threat Initiative, the Captain Planet Foundation and the Turner Endangered Species Fund. In addition, he remains actively involved in business with the rapidly expanding Ted’s Montana Grill restaurant chain.