OMAHA — Warren Buffett told his company’s shareholders in an open letter Tuesday that he has been diagnosed with early-stage prostate cancer.
The 81-year-old billionaire investor and chief executive of Berkshire Hathaway said his condition is “not remotely life-threatening” or debilitating. He said he and his doctors have decided on a two-month treatment plan that is to begin in mid-July.
“I feel great — as if I were in my normal excellent health,” Buffett said in the letter. “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.”
Buffett said he was diagnosed April 11 and has received tests including a CAT scan, a bone scan and an MRI.
He told shareholders in February that Berkshire’s board has chosen someone to succeed him as CEO — some day — and he said there are two backup candidates. None of the three has been identified.
