Disenchanted Turner quits AOL Time Warner amid soaring company losses

Ted Turner, the brash philanthropist and broadcasting pioneer sometimes called the Mouth of the South, has pulled another unexpected surprise, though this time he did it very discreetly. He is walking away from his role as vice-chairman of the world's biggest – and most troubled – media company, AOL Time Warner.

Mr Turner, 64, has spent more than 30 years as one of America's boldest and most successful business warriors. He will leave behind two of the greatest jewels of his extraordinary career: CNN, the cable news channel he founded in 1980, and his beloved Atlanta Braves baseball team.

No one doubts that he is leaving AOL Time Warner in a mood of anger and extreme disappointment. His announcement coincided with the company revealing almost $100bn (£60bn) in losses in 2002, a staggering sum roughly equivalent to the gross domestic product of Hungary.

A subdued Mr Turner said he wanted to focus on smaller business projects and his commitment to philanthropy. In 1997, the Turner Foundation pledged $1bn to the United Nations – paid out at $100m a year– of which $12m was earmarked in 2000 to fight Aids.

"I have devoted much of my life to philanthropic interests and, more recently, to several socially responsible business efforts. It has become even clearer to me how much personal satisfaction I derive from these activities."

Some say Mr Turner's star has been dimming since 1996, when he sold all his media holdings to Time Warner. Then came the ill-fated AOL takeover of Time Warner in 2001, which saw him shunted sideways to the vice-chairman role and quickly resulted in terrible accumulating losses. The merger coincided with the break-up of his 10-year marriage to the actress Jane Fonda.

Mr Turner's resignation may yet leave him with a seat on the AOL Time Warner board. Meanwhile, there was speculation last night that he might seek to buy back the Braves and possibly even CNN. "It is safe to say he will get his baseball team back, CNN is another issue, entirely," one senior AOL source was quoted as saying by the Drudge Report, an online news source.

Mr Turner's departure may not affect greatly the daily operations of AOL Time Warner, but it is a psychological blow at an already dire time for the company. Porter Bibb, his biographer, said: "Turner is probably the most competitive guy you would ever meet in this world ... but when he feels there is no battle left to win, he walks away."

Mr Turner once said that his role as vice-chairman was like having "one foot in the door and one on the sidewalk". He called it "a title without portfolio ... like the Emperor of Japan".

Tom Johnson, a friend and former senior CNN executive, said: "Ted was anguished by many of the revelations as it related to AOL, and certainly disappointed in the near-collapse of the stock, which affected his foundation. I know he's concerned. But only Ted can tell us why he did what he did."