NEW YORK - Ted Turner, the mercurial media visionary who founded CNN, said Friday that he wouldn't seek re-election to the board of Time Warner.
Turner, who is 67, became a director of Time Warner in 1996 when the media conglomerate bought his cable networks company Turner Broadcasting Systems. He long held a prominent role in guiding Time Warner's affairs, but in recent years complained of being sidelined.
Turner has increasingly turned his time and energy toward philanthropic efforts, which include overseeing an eponymous environmental foundation and his large land holdings.
Phillip Evans, a spokesman for Turner Enterprises, Turner's private holding company, said Turner has ``indicated for some time that he's wanted to refocus his energies on activities outside Time Warner.''
After initially embracing the company's ill-fated merger with America Online in 2000, Turner became disillusioned and complained publicly about being pushed aside in the company's hierarchy. In 2003, he relinquished his role as vice chairman.
Turner, whose bold pronouncements earned him the moniker ``The Mouth of the South,'' has occasionally embarrassed Time Warner in the past, complaining that former CEO Gerald Levin had ``fired'' him and railing against media consolidation in an article in the Washington Monthly magazine called ``My Beef With Big Media.''
Turner said in a prepared statement that he was departing after ``much deliberation'' and wished the company ``every success.'' Evans, the Turner Enterprises spokesman, said Turner would not be commenting further. Turner still owns 32 million shares of Time Warner stock, less than 1 percent of the company's outstanding shares.
Time Warner also announced that Carla A. Hills, a former U.S. trade representative, will step down from the board in accordance with the company's retirement policy, which requires directors to retire after they turn 72.
Last month, former AOL executive Miles Gilburne also said he would not seek re-election.
