Warren Buffett diagnosed with prostate cancer
Source: Agencies |
April 19, 2012, Thursday
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BILLIONAIRE investor Warren Buffett says he has been diagnosed with early-stage prostate cancer but the 81-year-old chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway Inc has no plans to retire any time soon.
He assured shareholders in a letter made public on Tuesday that his condition was "not remotely life-threatening." The two-month radiation treatment he and his doctors plan to start in mid-July will restrict his travel but shouldn't otherwise affect his routine, he said.
"I feel great - as if I were in my normal excellent health," Buffett said. "And my energy level is 100 percent."
Cancer experts say the diagnosis shouldn't be a major concern because it appears his doctors caught the disease early. Still, Berkshire investors will be reminded of Buffett's mortality. And there is bound to be fresh speculation about who will eventually succeed him.
Buffett said he was diagnosed on April 11 and has undergone tests including a CAT scan, a bone scan and an MRI. He said they showed no indication of cancer elsewhere in his body.
"The chance of dying of prostate cancer for Mr Buffett in the next 10 years is probably 2 or 3 percent, so the prognosis is great," said Dr Ralph deVere White, director of the Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of California, Davis.
Buffett is one of the world's richest men - his stake in Berkshire Hathaway is worth about US$44.6 billion - and in recent years he has become one of the most generous philanthropists.
He and Berkshire's board have a succession plan in place. Berkshire plans to split Buffett's job into three parts - CEO, chairman and several investment managers.
He told shareholders in February that the board had chosen someone to succeed him as CEO and said there were two backup candidates.
None of the three has been identified and Buffett has said Berkshire hasn't even told the three who they are. But he has said his son Howard, a member of the board, would make an ideal chairman.
Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in men - more than 241,000 new cases are expected to be diagnosed in the United States this year. More than 90 percent are early-stage - like Buffett's - and nearly all survive at least five years.
Many prostate cancer patients die of something else before the cancer kills them.
Buffett concluded his letter with a nod to that fact.
"I will let shareholders know immediately should my health situation change," he wrote. "Eventually, of course, it will; but I believe that day is a long way off."
He assured shareholders in a letter made public on Tuesday that his condition was "not remotely life-threatening." The two-month radiation treatment he and his doctors plan to start in mid-July will restrict his travel but shouldn't otherwise affect his routine, he said.
"I feel great - as if I were in my normal excellent health," Buffett said. "And my energy level is 100 percent."
Cancer experts say the diagnosis shouldn't be a major concern because it appears his doctors caught the disease early. Still, Berkshire investors will be reminded of Buffett's mortality. And there is bound to be fresh speculation about who will eventually succeed him.
Buffett said he was diagnosed on April 11 and has undergone tests including a CAT scan, a bone scan and an MRI. He said they showed no indication of cancer elsewhere in his body.
"The chance of dying of prostate cancer for Mr Buffett in the next 10 years is probably 2 or 3 percent, so the prognosis is great," said Dr Ralph deVere White, director of the Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of California, Davis.
Buffett is one of the world's richest men - his stake in Berkshire Hathaway is worth about US$44.6 billion - and in recent years he has become one of the most generous philanthropists.
He and Berkshire's board have a succession plan in place. Berkshire plans to split Buffett's job into three parts - CEO, chairman and several investment managers.
He told shareholders in February that the board had chosen someone to succeed him as CEO and said there were two backup candidates.
None of the three has been identified and Buffett has said Berkshire hasn't even told the three who they are. But he has said his son Howard, a member of the board, would make an ideal chairman.
Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in men - more than 241,000 new cases are expected to be diagnosed in the United States this year. More than 90 percent are early-stage - like Buffett's - and nearly all survive at least five years.
Many prostate cancer patients die of something else before the cancer kills them.
Buffett concluded his letter with a nod to that fact.
"I will let shareholders know immediately should my health situation change," he wrote. "Eventually, of course, it will; but I believe that day is a long way off."
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