Media mogul billionaire, Ted Turner, had a difficult year financially
in 2001. In May, he paid out 40 million dollars to Jane Fonda
in divorce settlement costs. However, this figure was dwarfed
when compared to what he lost when his company, Time Warner,
merged with America Online (AOL) on January 11, 2001. Immediately
AOL stocks fell by about 90%, with Turner himself losing about
7 billion in the deal. Financial analysts mark the end of the
dot com era with this disastrous merger.
You might find it hard to feel sympathetic when a billionaire
loses big, but let's have a look at his chart anyway as an exercise
in financial astrology.
Ted Turner's Natal Chart
In January 2001, Turner was in his Mercury-Moon-Venus dasha.
His Mercury dasha began in September 1992, and up until that
point, had been a very lucrative dasha. This is not surprising
when you see that Mercury is in a parivartana yoga (exchange
of signs) with Mars in the 11th house, the house of gains. This
is an excellent dhana yoga for wealth between the 1st and 11th
lords. However, his sub dasha lord, the Moon, is in the 12th
house and in the 12th house from Mercury, the dasha lord. In
addition, his sub sub dasha lord, Venus, happens to also be
the 12th lord. The 12th house is the house of losses, debts,
and expenditures. You may notice that the Moon gets aspected
by Jupiter who's the lord of two money houses, the 2nd and 5th.
This also forms a dhana yoga between the 2nd, 5th and 9th lords.
You might think that this should have prevented major losses
during the Moon sub dasha. However, we can't underestimate the
potential of a planet placed in the 12th house to cause losses
during its dasha.
Let's see what the Moon's condition is in the navamsha (D9)
to get more clues:
Ted Turner's Navamsha Chart
In addition to the navamsha being the key divisional chart to
use generally, it's also specifically important for financial
astrology. This is because as the 9th division it is associated
with the 9th house, the house of fortune. In Turner's navamsha,
the Moon is placed in the 12th house, debilitated in Scorpio,
conjunct Ketu, and devoid of any benefic aspect. It can hardly
look more bleak for financial gain.
Let's look at the transits on that day, which add some more
clues.
Transit Chart for January 11, 2001
Notice how Saturn is aspecting his natal Jupiter by transit
to the exact degree. Saturn is the planet of limitation and
constriction, which is tightening his pocket book in a major
way. Saturn, like Ketu, is a karaka of the 12th house, and can
represent loss by its natal position or by transit. Saturn is
also in the 8th house from his natal Moon, which is not a favorable
placement for Saturn's transit. Saturn and Jupiter, the double
transit, being placed in the 7th house indicates the business
partnership that was formed. However, notice that Saturn's transit
also aspects the dasha lord Mercury, the 11th lord of gains,
further constricting the money flow. In addition, Ketu, the
karaka of the 12th house of loss is transiting the 2nd house.
Lastly, the sub dasha lord Moon is aspected by Mars, the 6th
lord by transit, in the 12th house, further indicating debt
and misfortune during the Moon sub dasha.
Watch a short interview with Ted Turner about the AOL-Time Warner
merger with Michael Eisner:
Ted Turner's Navamsha Chart
