In Focus

Ted Turner

NOTE: All this month in the Chicks' Eye View we will be featuring the richest of the rich from the Forbes List of the World's Richest People. Just who are they and how'd they get to be so filthy rich?

I can't help myself... I have to brag for just a minute about my new baby girl. On July 27, Kevin and I became the proud parents of little Katarina Reagan. She is just beautiful (if I do say so myself) and content and was absolutely smothered with affection by her two older sisters upon her arrival home. Thanks for letting me share all my stories of ridiculous food cravings and toilet-bowl coveting throughout these past nine (ten) months. Stay tuned for my adventure back to one chin and a recognizable rear...

Now on to the topic of the day; Mr. Ted Turner. I felt obligated to cover "Terrible Ted," as he was referred to in his youth, for two reasons. One is that he was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, and that's kinda my home away from home these days. The other was that his ex-wife, Jane Fonda, was the whole reason I started doing aerobics way back when.and it was only a few days ago I dug up her old tapes to aid me in my new quest for thinness.

Ted Turner is strange, but hugely successful. He always seems to say the wrong things at the wrong times and gets away with it. He has badmouthed the Pope, the Polish, Jewish folks, and immigrants, among others and simply put, the mans history is chock full of troublemaking. When he was younger he grew marijuana in his dorm room at school and then was eventually thrown out for hanky-pankying with some woman in his room. In 1977 he and his boat, "Courageous" won the America's Cup race, and after far too many cups of what my grandma calls "the drink," he arrived to accept the prestigious award three sheets to the wind. Throw into the picture his three failed marriages, and you'd think this mans future would be a textbook case of hoodlumism.

Not so.

While Ted Turner continued to offend the masses and suffer his own personal tragedies, he also managed to become one of the richest men in America with his intuition and the stick-to-itiveness to make things happen. His vision for a satellite super station essentially catapulted cable television into an enormous business, and set the stage for its future. He created TBS, or Turner Broadcasting System, which was picked up by 160 million homes in 200 countries and in 40 different languages. He then began CNN, the 24 hour Cable News Network which achieved immediate notoriety after the reporting of the assassination attempt on then President Ronald Reagan. The station's popularity continued to soar with other major happenings such as the Iraqi Missile Crisis and the Shuttle Disaster.

Just when you thought the "Mouth of the South," another term used to describe dear Ole Ted, couldn't possibly get any bigger, he created other stations that have their own huge following: TNT, the Cartoon Network, and after purchasing MGM/UA, MGM Classic Movies. Ted is also the proud owner of the WCW, the Atlanta Braves, the Atlanta Thrashers, and the Atlanta Hawks. The man is everywhere! Before you know it he'll be running for President (at least he'd admit he inhaled), Lord help us all. Actually, amusingly enough, he gave some real thought to that prospect a few years ago, but claimed that Jane wouldn't go for it. Thank goodness for small favors.

I, of course, say that in the nicest way.

I can rant and rave all day about how cantankerous Ted Turner is, and how mind-boggling it is that his antics haven't stopped him dead in his tracks somewhere along the way. But isn't it written somewhere that many millionaires are eccentric? So what does that make Ted if he's a billionaire? Good question. The answer depends on your personal perspective. And if his latest acquisition doesn't give you food for thought, I don't know what will...

Let's talk about what has been the biggest merging of two companies to come down the pike; Time Warner and AOL. It has only been the hottest topic in the stock market world since I don't know when. Everyone wants to second-guess its success and there is no shortage of predictions. But something tells me everything will turn out just peachy for all parties, most notably the man who is the largest shareholder owning a whopping ten percent, you guessed it... the one and only... Captain Outrageous (yet another well-earned nickname)... Ted Turner.

I don't know about you, but this whole idea Chick Karin had about delving into the lives of some of the people who made Forbes' list has been truly interesting. Many times their lives seem to mirror that of the best soap opera storylines. And with my newest addition having finally arrived, I haven't the time to sit down in front of a television. Except of course when I am working out with Jane.

Sorry, Ted.