Ted Turner Giving Money Away in 2013

Ted Turner to me is one of the most inspirational philanthropists around today, most people recognize Warren Buffett and Bill Gates as one of the most generous billionaires in the world today, however, Ted Turner has advanced philanthropy considerably in his own way. Turner was inspired by philanthropy at a very young age by his father who he revered very much, with quite a modest salary his father gave money away very frequently to civic organizations and charitable causes and even helped two African-American students study to get their degree, Turner was deeply programmed by this act of kindness.

The Meeting That Changed Ted Turners Life

Before Ted Turner became a media mogul be explains early on in his career he went on a charitable dinner function and sat next to a man who was explaining how his family foundation had made a impact on the life of so many people, immediately Turner was able to identify with the elderly man who was comparable to his father, Turner filed this thought away and pledged that if he ever became rich he would help people in need.

The Billion Dollar Donation

Once Turner made his billions through the the CNN channel he made an astounding donation of $1 billion to help people all around the world, he became active in philanthropy and to date has visited over 60 countries to help people in need. Ted Turner was sometimes disappointed by the fact that many other billionaires simply did not do enough, instead they would eagerly await league tables to show who was richer than who. Turner came up with the revolutionary idea to create a giving league table which would show who was the most generous philanthropists and put to shame those who did not give away money even though they had plenty. 

The concept gave rise to the Forbes Philanthropy List, The Business Week top 50 American Philanthropists and the GivingPledge.Org. Now it seems that billionaires are scrambling all over their world to become the most generous. Ted Turner has accelerated philanthropy through forward thinking and his actions have unleashed more energy and commitment to philanthropy than ever before.