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Lesson #5: Leave Your Mark

Article Overview: “Having great wealth is one of the most disappointing things,” says Turner. “It’s overrated, I can tell you that. It’s not as good as average sex.”

Lesson #5: Leave Your Mark

“Having great wealth is one of the most disappointing things,” says Turner. “It’s overrated, I can tell you that. It’s not as good as average sex.”

Turner never entered the media industry to make money, and now that he has it, he doesn’t know what to do with it all. “As I started getting rich, I started thinking, ‘what the hell am I going to do with all this money?’” And so, after making a billion dollar fortune, Turner is now spending his time giving it all away. He has a family to support, but also feels that the greatest legacy he can leave for his children is to contribute back to society. “The world and life have been mighty good to me. And I want to put something back.”

With that, Turner changed the path his life was on and devoted himself to philanthropy, saying he has gone from being a man who thrives on the war of business to a man of peace. In 1998, Turner pledged the historic donation of $1billion to the United Nations to help fund programs dealing with refugees, children, and health and security. Choosing $1 billion because it’s “a good round number,” Turner also began criticizing other wealthy individuals for letting their money go to waste in bank accounts. He promised that, “everybody who is rich can expect a call…because there’s no reason why we can’t raise lots of money.”

Turner is an avid environmentalist, who, as early as 1973, sold his Cadillac to begin using more fuel-efficient cars. In 1990, he then created the Turner Foundation, a private organization dedicated to protecting the environment. In 2000, he also launched the Nuclear Threat Initiative and endowed it with $250 million to work towards curbing the proliferation of nuclear, biological and chemical weapons throughout the world. “Over a three-year period, I gave away half of what I had,” Turner says. “To be honest, my hands shook as I signed it away. I knew I was taking myself out of the race to be the richest man in the world.”

Turner has not let his wealth affect his perspective of what is important in life. He didn’t get into business for the money and realizes that having more than he can use will not make him any happier than he already is. “I like to do things that are bigger than me,” says Turner. He has left his mark in the worlds of media and television and now wants to leave his mark on the world. “I consider this movement part of the human rights movement,” he says. “Everybody is entitled to an equal chance in life…I’m going to keep pressing so everyone has an equal chance in the world.”

As with his business ventures, Turner is again taking on a bigger goal than most can even fathom: saving the planet. But, he remains both realistic and optimistic about his prospects, “There’s still a lot of work to do, and we’ll keep doing it.”

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Article Tags: 1 billion, bank accounts, being a man, cadillac, chemical weapons, dollar fortune, environmentalist, fuel efficient cars, legacy, lots of money, man of peace, nuclear threat initiative, private organization, proliferation, protecting the environment, refugees, richest man in the world, turner foundation, united nations, wealthy individuals



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