Admittedly wiped out financially, Ted Turner is vowing to spend what could be his last $1 billion on his United Nations cause.
The 64-year-old media mogul was worth $11 billion back in the late 1990s, when he pledged a record $1 billion gift to help a variety of world ills through the U.N.
But his fortune – based almost entirely on AOL Time Warner stock – got wiped out virtually overnight when the company’s stock price collapsed in the past year.
Turner lost $9.4 billion on his shares, and earlier this week cashed out half of them for about $789 million – leaving him with just 55.9 million shares valued at around $748 million. Together, the cash and stock are worth $1.6 billion.
The generous 1997 pledge, made when Turner was rolling in dough, was to help ease world suffering and encourage peace.
Turner structured his $1 billion gift to fund the U.N. Foundation over 15 years. The foundation said it also has raised about $115 million from other corporations and benefactors. To date, Turner has given the foundation $373 million and agreed to pay about $50 million a year over the 12 years.
Turner’s office had no comment on how he’s going to invest his new horde of cash or what his tax liabilities would be for cashing out.