Mentor and a friend: former PBL Media chief dies of cancer

Former PBL Media and ACP Magazines boss Ian Law, pictured, has died, after a battle with cancer.

Mr Law, 62, worked in senior positions in Australia's biggest media companies, namely PBL Media (now Nine Entertainment Co), ACP Magazines, West Australian Newspapers Holdings, Rural Press and ninemsn.

The former Nine chief Eddie McGuire described Mr Law as a "wonderful man, a person of outstanding integrity, great humour and a strong moral compass. Long after our short period of working together we remained friends, something that often doesn't happen in business, particularly in television," Mr McGuire said.

"And I'm deeply saddened by the passing of a great man."

Jeff Browne, who recently stood down as managing director of the Nine Network, said Mr Law had "made it in the big smoke" with "good, honest country values".

He described Mr Law as a "furious worker" who had an impressive capacity to absorb data.

"What he said, he meant. He was a great man. I'll miss him as a friend," Mr Browne said.

Chief executive of Nine Entertainment David Gyngell said Mr Law "was a man of great intellect and decency, and one of the hardest-working media executives I've ever encountered. His attention to detail and his loyalty were bywords in our tough industry, and his passing is both untimely and very sad."

Greg Roebuck managing director of carsales.com, where Mr Law had been a director since early 2007, described him as a "consummate director".

"He was incredibly knowledgeable, supportive and able to deal with issues with wonderful empathy and humour. His passion for the business was always evident and he was a major contributor to the success the business enjoys."

"He was a mentor and a dear friend to each member of the board and he will be enormously missed. The thoughts of the board and the staff of carsales are with Ian's family and friends," Mr Roebuck said.

Mr Law is survived by his wife and two children.