Former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has reportedly passed away. Corriere della Serra. The former businessman who contracted leukemia was 86 years old.
Berlusconi spent 45 days in hospital with pneumonia. The Italian has been quite influential in Italy, with investments in everything from football to the media.
As a politician, Berlusconi has risen quite quickly. He was first elected prime minister in May 1994, less than a month after he entered the Italian parliament as a deputy.
The leader of the Italian right served three times as prime minister, for a total of nine years. His first tenure ended after divisions within Forza Italia, the party he founded and leads to this day.
He lost the election in 1996 but was re-elected by the Italians in 2001. He failed to win again in 2006 before winning again in 2008. He finally left this post in 2011.
Berlusconi’s political path has been marked by controversy, both for agreeing to form coalitions with the far right and for controlling Italy’s largest communications company, Mediaset.
However, what is most notable about Berlusconi’s life is the sex scandals he was involved in. In 2011, the then prime minister was accused of having sexual relations with a minor.
In May 2010, El Mahroug, a 17-year-old Moroccan, was arrested on suspicion of stealing 3,000 euros. After several hours of police interrogation, Berlusconi called and asked for the release of the minor, claiming she was the niece of the then Egyptian president.
Berlusconi eventually stood trial and was brought before him. In 2013, he was found guilty of abusing a girl in his office and sentenced to seven years in prison. After several appeals, Berlusconi eventually won the case.
Not only political life marked the life of the Italian, he made his first steps in business in 1964 when he invested in a construction company.
In 1973, with the purchase of TeleMilano, he entered the world of communications, making him one of the richest and most powerful people in the world. The TV channel became the first in Italy with private investment. In 1978 he founded the communication group Fininvest.
The passion for football was also reflected in Berlusconi’s investments, which bought AC Milan in 1986 and saved the club from bankruptcy. As owner of the Rossoneri, he has seen the team win 8 Italian leagues, 5 Champions Leagues, 2 Intercontinental Cups, 5 European Super Cups and one Club World Cup.
In 2018, a year after leaving Milan, he bought the Italians from Monza, the team he took from the third to the first division of Italian football.