Health

" Your health is your wealth "

Peter Paton

Billionaire has 'weeks to live'

The Dutchman has rejected chemotherapy treatment A billionaire businessman who last year headed Scotland's rich list has just a few weeks to live because of terminal cancer, it has emerged. Oil and gas magnate Paul van Vlissingen has returned home to his native Netherlands to die. He owns the 60,000-acre Letterewe estate in Wester Ross, making him the biggest foreign landowner in Scotland. Mr van Vlissingen, 64, said there was no chance of recovery and that chemotherapy was not an option. He said such treatment would only prolong his life by a couple of months. Native Americans Mr van Vlissingen said he was using native Americans as an example of how to look at death as they used the time they had left to concentrate on the good times with family and friends. Mr van Vlissingen, whose assets are valued at about £1.1bn, owns SHV Holdings, a Dutch conglomerate with interests in energy, retailing, transport and financial services. He became well-known for wanting to reintroduce wolves to his Highland estate. Last week the Sunday Times Rich List named Sir Tom Hunter as the wealthiest man in Scotland. Mr van Vlissingen, who was number one on the list last year, was not included in the new figures.