Rupert Murdoch diagnosed with prostate cancer
Media magnate Rupert Murdoch has been diagnosed with prostate cancer and will begin treatment in the next month.
The 69-year-old Australian-born businessman, whose media interests include Hong Kong-based Star TV, was diagnosed with a low-grade form of the disease during a routine medical check.
Prostate cancer, which affects a small gland near the bladder, is increasingly common and is regarded as relatively simple to treat if found early enough.
Mr Murdoch - who last year married Wendy Deng, a former Star TV executive - was told of his condition two weeks ago.
He intends to continue running his businesses as normal.
'His doctors have told Mr Murdoch the prognosis is very good and that it is an extremely low-grade form of cancer,' a spokesman for Mr Murdoch's News Corp said yesterday.
'He has no intention of changing his work schedule.' Mr Murdoch will start receiving radiotherapy in about a month.
'The treatment will last several weeks and his doctors are confident it will eliminate the problem,' the spokesman said.
The diagnosis will spark new interest in which of Mr Murdoch's three children will take over News Corp, which includes several British and Australian newspapers, the Fox Entertainment Group in the United States, and a 40 per cent interest in British Sky Broadcasting.
One of his two sons, Lachlan, is on the board and is chairman and chief executive officer of News Limited, which controls the group's interests in Australia.
His other son, James, is an executive vice-president of News Corp and is on the company's executive management committee, alongside sister Elisabeth, who is managing director of Sky Networks at BSkyB.
Mr Murdoch is reportedly worth US$5 billion (HK$38.5 billion).
He gave up his Australian citizenship and moved permanently to the US in 1985.
