Business & Tech

Reports: Ted Turner in Argentine Hospital for Appendicitis

CNN founder and Georgia philanthropist Ted Turner is reportedly being treated for appendicitis in a South American hospital.

Media mogul Ted Turner – who founded CNN and Turner Broadcasting System based in Atlanta -- has been hospitalized for appendicitis, according to media reports.

Turner Enterprises spokesman Phillip Evans in Atlanta said the CNN founder was hospitalized in South America for observation and that "no further details will be provided."

The 75-year-old billionaire was first treated earlier Friday at the San Carlos Sanatorium in Bariloche, near his ranch in Argentina's Patagonia region, according to ABC News. A spokeswoman there told the AP that Turner left that clinic after about four hours.

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Turner arrived at a clinic suffering from acute abdominal pain, according to CNN. She told Argentina's state-run Telam news agency that doctors diagnosed the businessman and philanthropist with appendicitis and recommended that he undergo surgery. Turner was flown later Friday morning to the capital of Buenos Aires to have the operation, according to Telam.

Besides his business ventures -- including the Ted's Montana Grill chain and the renewable energy company RT Solar -- Turner has been one of the county's most generous philanthropists, including a $1 billion donation to the United Nations in 1997.

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