Berkshire Hathaway's Warren Buffett disclosed on Tuesday that he has stage 1 prostate cancer but said his condition "is not remotely life-threatening or even debilitating in any meaningful way."
Buffett said he will begin a two-month treatment consisting of daily radiation treatments starting in mid-July. This will limit his ability to travel during that time, he said in a statement.
Berkshire is less than three weeks away from its annual meeting, which draws more than 40,000 shareholders to its headquarters in Omaha, Nebraska, where in a festival-like atmosphere Buffett holds center stage.
This year's meeting was expected to focus to some degree on succession, after Buffett disclosed in his annual letter to shareholders that Berkshire's board had identified a successor – one the 81-year-old Buffett did not name.
Buffett’s Letter to Shareholders:
To the Shareholders of Berkshire Hathaway:
This is to let you know that I have been diagnosed with stage I prostate cancer. The good news is that I’ve been told by my doctors that my condition is not remotely lifethreatening or even debilitating in any meaningful way. I received my diagnosis last Wednesday. I then had a CAT scan and a bone scan on Thursday, followed by an MRI today. These tests showed no incidence of cancer elsewhere in my body.
My doctors and I have decided on a two-month treatment of daily radiation to begin in mid-July. This regimen will restrict my travel during that period, but will not otherwise change my daily routine.
I feel great – as if I were in my normal excellent health – and my energy level is 100 percent. I discovered the cancer because my PSA level (an indicator my doctors had regularly checked for many years) recently jumped beyond its normal elevation and a biopsy seemed warranted.
I will let shareholders know immediately should my health situation change. Eventually, of course, it will; but I believe that day is a long way off.
Warren E. Buffett
