Billionaire Forrest to Fund Anti-Smoking Suits, Australian Says

(Bloomberg) -- Andrew Forrest, who made his fortune through iron-ore mining, plans to use part of his charity commitments to sue tobacco companies for killing smokers, the Australian reported.

The Australian billionaire, through his Minderoo Foundation, is seeking legal advice on whether it is feasible to take action similar to a landmark Canadian case that saw a judge order three tobacco companies to pay A$15.6 billion ($12.2 billion) in damages to more than a million smokers, the newspaper reported, citing an interview with Forrest.

Forrest has pledged A$400 million for charity, including about A$75 million for eliminating cancer. The billionaire says tobacco is the basis for 30 percent of all cancers, according to the Australian.

To contact the reporter on this story: Garfield Reynolds in Sydney at greynolds1@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Stanley James at sjames8@bloomberg.net, John McCluskey