CNN之父75歲了

????上周六晚，在電視名嘴杰伊?萊諾主持下，600多名親朋好友在亞特蘭大為傳媒大亨特德?特納舉行了75歲生日慶典，來賓包括美國前副總統艾爾?戈爾、前參議員薩姆?納恩和蒂姆?沃思、內衣品牌Spanx創始人薩拉?布萊克利和特納的女朋友、科羅拉多州環境學家薩利?蘭尼。用于招待賓客的是野牛里脊——這很合適，因為特納養了5.5萬頭野牛。在自己的5位子女和13名孫子孫女面前，特納演唱了一曲《我的肯塔基老家》（My Old Kentucky Home），還引用了莎士比亞的名句（理查二世談到正直時說：“榮譽即生命，二者為一體；榮譽被奪，生命則止”）。眾人起立為他鼓掌歡呼，這樣的表現令人感到放心——最近朋友們都很關注特納的情況，也都很擔心。

????去年夏天，我聽說特納的健康程度和記憶力開始滑坡后，曾經申請對他進行獨家采訪。特納的成就超過大多數生意人——他創立了美國有線電視新聞網（CNN），建立了一個媒體和體育帝國，他拿過美洲杯帆船賽冠軍，他擁有的土地面積大過世界上其他任何人——嗯，直到另一位億萬富翁、有線電視巨頭約翰?馬隆以幾英畝（1英畝= 4046.86平方米）的微弱優勢超過了他。我曾在《財富》（Fortune）雜志上發表過兩篇關于特納的封面文章，分別是在1997年和2003年。第一次是在特納承諾提供10億美元（61.36億元人民幣）資金來幫助美國擺脫金融困境之后，第二次則是他自己陷于財務危機之中。當時，時代華納（Time Warner）和美國在線（AOL）合并后股價暴跌，給特納帶來了逾80億美元（490.88億元人民幣）的損失。第二篇文章的題目是《隨風而逝》（Gone with the Wind），詳細講述了這個損失了幾十億美元個人財產的悲劇性人物（妹妹17歲因病去世，父親在53歲時自殺）怎樣失去了在時代華納的工作和他一生的摯愛——簡?方達。

????那篇文章寫于10年之前，此后我見過特納幾次，但一直沒有采訪過他。直到最近，我為了最新一期《財富》【封面報道是“年度商業人物”（Businessperson of the Year）的那一期，現已出版】中的訪談板塊到亞特蘭大去拜訪他時，我發現他比以前更加平和，思想也更加深刻，而且不再那么愛發脾氣了（他只叫了我一次“光桿司令記者”）。特德?特納精力充沛，他仍然是人們所能見到的最肆無忌憚、最直率、最可靠的老板之一。

????我們的對話如下：

????你對75歲的生活感覺如何？

????比死了強。

????你身體怎么樣?

????還可以，但不是太好。我有睡眠呼吸暫停和心房纖顫，這兩種病都會讓人身體虛弱。

????With Jay Leno hosting, more than 600 friends—Al Gore, former U.S. Senators Sam Nunn and Tim Wirth, Spanx founder Sara Blakely, and his date, Colorado environmentalist Sally Ranney, among them—helped Ted Turner celebrate his 75th birthday on Saturday night in Atlanta. The guests dined on bison filet—fitting since Turner owns 55,000 of the creatures. With his five children and 13 grandchildren in attendance, Turner sang "My Old Kentucky Home," and recited Shakespeare (Richard II on integrity: "Mine honour is my life, both grow in one; Take honour from me and my life is done") from memory. He earned a standing ovation, and it was a reassuring performance from a man who has worried his friends as much as fascinated them lately.

????When I heard last summer that Turner's physical health and memory were slipping, I asked for an exclusive interview with the man whose accomplishments exceed those of most any other businessman: Turner created CNN, built a media and sports empire, won the America's Cup and acquired more land than any other person in the world—well, until another billionaire, cable TV titan John Malone, picked up a few more acres to surpass him. I had written two Fortune cover stories about Turner: in 1997, after he committed to give $1 billion to help save the United Nations from its financial troubles, and in 2003, when he was facing his own financial disaster. Turner lost more than $8 billion when Time Warner (TWX) stock collapsed after the company's merger with AOL (AOL). The story, titled "Gone with the Wind," detailed how this man prone to tragedy (his sister died at age 17; his father killed himself at 53) lost his job at Time Warner and the love of his life, Jane Fonda, in addition to his billions of dollars in personal wealth.

????Since that story a decade ago, I had seen Turner a few times but not sat down with him for an interview. When I recently went to Atlanta to talk with him for the Q&A that appears in the current issue of Fortune (the "Businessperson of the Year" issue, now on newsstands), I found him to be calmer than he used to be, more reflective and not quite as cantankerous (he called me a "yoyo journalist" only once). Irrepressible, Ted Turner remains one of the most uninhibited, candid and authentic bosses you will ever meet.

????Here's our conversation:

????How are you feeling about life at 75?

????It's better than being dead.

????How's your health?

????It's okay, but it's not great. I have both sleep apnea and atrial fibrillation, which are both debilitating conditions.