Berkshire Hathaway chief executive Warren Buffett disclosed on Tuesday that he has stage one prostate cancer but said his condition" is not remotely life-threatening or even debilitating in any meaningful way."     

Buffett said in a statement 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 added.       

The news from the 81-year-old "Oracle of Omaha" is likely to intensify the already brewing debate about the succession plan at Berkshire Hathaway, a conglomerate that employs more than 270,000 people in more than 70 businesses around the world.     

Buffett told investors in late February that Berkshire had identified his successor, but in typically circumspect fashion, declined to say who it was - and ultimately admitted that even the chosen one does not know, himself.      

The news comes one day after Republicans in the US Senate blocked the "Buffett rule," a tax on millionaires whose idea was born of a now-famous editorial Buffett wrote in the New York Times last year, saying the rich had an obligation to pay more income tax.      

That debate ensnared Buffett's secretary as well. After Buffett said she paid more taxes than he did, President Barack Obama invited Debbie Bosanek to attend this year's State of the Union address.         

Berkshire shares fell 1.5 per cent in after-hours trading on the news. The widely held Class B shares are up 5.9 per cent year-to-date, half the gains of the broader S&P 500. Stifel Nicolaus analyst Meyer Shields, in a note to clients, said he expected some weakness in the stock on Wednesday but added the news did not necessarily make the succession worries behind his "hold" rating any more imminent.     

One Berkshire investor said it was reasonable to assume people would panic at the news of Buffett's illness, but that nothing had actually changed in the case for the stock.     

"Despite the news, this is not a reason to sell (Berkshire). Fundamentals are still good at the company and the clear succession plan does give clarity about the future path of the firm," said Michael Yoshikami, chief executive of Destination Wealth Management in California.     

Another Berkshire investor who has written books about Buffett's investment strategies cautioned the news could have been much worse and was, ultimately, not a surprise.     

"He's mortal, we knew that," said Jeff Matthews, author of the book "Secrets in Plain Sight." "I think it means zero for Berkshire investors. He's been getting the company ready for the day he dies."           

One skeptic, though, said the news could at least put a cap on the stock, which has underperformed in recent years.     

"The uncertainty will diminish the upside to this company," said Doug Kass of Seabreeze Partners in Palm Beach, Florida, which owns B shares.     

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, as well as the investment case for Berkshire. For the first time ever, Buffett is expected to take questions from sell-side analysts at the meeting.     

Even before the news of Buffett's illness, Berkshire was already scaling back this year's festivities, though. Among other changes, the company canceled the Sunday press conference Buffett and Vice Chairman Charlie Munger used to hold with international press. – Reuters