GAY BYRNE turned 84 on Sunday as funds at his media company rose to over €600k this year.
The former RTE broadcaster and Late Late Show host was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2016, and recently took a break from a long course of chemotherapy.
After working within RTE for over four decades, Byrne’s income became reliant on his media firm, Gabbro Ltd.
The most recent figures for the company show that shareholder funds – largely made up of accumulated profits generated over the years – increased to €602,634 at the end of 2016.
Furthermore, current assets increased from €496,105 to €576,176.
The filings for the company show that it had a profit of €10,988 in 2016, which followed a profit of €25,789 in 2015.
The news will be welcomed by Byrne who has had his share of economic troubles in the past.
He previously revealed that he never had a pension in RTE and that himself and wife Kathleen invested in stocks in AIB, Bank of Ireland and Anglo-Irish Bank – all of which were wiped out.
Also, in 1987, Byrne lost more than €200,000 of his money at the hands of his close friend and accountant, Russell Murphy.