Italy‘s controversial former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has died aged 86 after being admitted to hospital with leukaemia last week.
The billionaire businessman created Italy’s largest media company before transforming the country’s political landscape – while fending off multiple legal and sex scandals. His spokesman confirmed his death this morning.
Berlusconi – famed for his notorious ‘bunga bunga’ sex parties and previously owning Italian football club AC Milan – had been suffering from leukaemia ‘for some time’ and had recently developed a lung infection.
The tycoon was admitted to San Raffaele hospital in Milan on Friday for what aides said were pre-planned tests related to his leukaemia.
Berlusconi’s Forza Italia party is part of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s right-wing coalition, and although he himself did not have a role in government, his death is likely to destabilise Italian politics in the coming months.
Italy ‘s controversial former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has died aged 86 after being admitted to hospital with leukaemia last week. Pictured: Berlusconi and his 33-year-old partner Marta Fascina, who is a Forza Italia MP
The billionaire businessman created Italy’s largest media company before transforming the country’s political landscape – while fending off multiple legal and sex scandals. His spokesman confirmed his death this morning. Pictured: The last known photo of Berlusconi, taken as he left the San Raffaele hospital after a 45-day of hospitalisation, in Milan, May 19
Berlusconi (pictured in October) had been suffering from leukaemia ‘for some time’ and had recently developed a lung infection. He was admitted to San Raffaele hospital in Milan on Friday for what aides said were pre-planned tests related to his leukaemia
Pictured: Members of the media work outside San Raffaele hospital where former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi died in Milan, Italy, June 12
His business empire also faces an uncertain future. He never publicly indicated who would take full charge of his MFE company following his death, even though his eldest daughter Marina is expected to play a prominent role.
Two members of the Italian government mourned his passing, with Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini calling him in a statement ‘a great man and a great Italian.’
Defence Minister Guido Crosetto wrote on Twitter that Berlusconi’s death amounted to the end of an era. ‘I loved him very much. Farewell Silvio,’ Crosetto said.
Berlusconi was prime minister for three spells, running from 1994 to 1995, 2001 to 2006 and 2008 to 2011.
His health markedly deteriorated in recent years, with open-heart surgery in 2016 and numerous hospital admissions since contracting Covid-19 three years ago.
The former PM – who was in a relationship with 33-year-old Forza Italia MP Marta Fascina – was discharged from hospital last month after treatment for a lung infection linked to a Chronic Myelomonocytic Leukaemia (CML).
He was admitted to intensive care in April in the cardiac unit of the San Raffaele hospital after suffering from breathing problems.
While there, Berlusconi, the leader of the Right-wing Forza Italia party, was diagnosed with a lung infection and CML – a rare blood cancer characterised by high numbers of white blood cells.
He was discharged on May 19 after 45 days in hospital.
Berlusconi had previously overcome prostate cancer, which he described as ‘a nightmare lasting months’.
But it was his battle with Covid in 2020 which he described as the ‘most dangerous challenge’ of his life.
The three-time prime minister of Italy, who was embroiled in several scandals – most notably around his ‘bunga bunga’ parties – was admitted to hospital with a minor heart problem after fainting in 2006, and underwent heart surgery in a US hospital in January 2007.
The former AC Milan owner, who also had major heart surgery in 2016 to replace an aortic valve, has had a pacemaker for several years.
He was hospitalised again for a reported urinary tract infection in January 2022.
Despite being diagnosed with leukaemia, he was active in politics to the end as a senator and partner in Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s rightwing government.
The larger-than-life character, who once compared himself to Jesus, was Italy’s longest serving premier but was also plagued by scandal.
Berlusconi also wielded huge influence through his television and newspaper interests – he effectively invented commercial TV in Italy – his ownership of AC Milan football club, and his sheer wealth, as Italy’s richest person for a decade.
Long before Donald Trump parlayed his business success into a White House bid, Berlusconi charmed millions of Italians by presenting himself as a self-made man who enjoyed life and spoke his mind, even to the extent of insulting fellow leaders.
To his critics, however, the right-winger was a tax-evading playboy who used his vast media empire to further his political career, and then exploited his power to protect his business interests.
He spent much of his life embroiled in legal action, and the cases around his notorious ‘Bunga Bunga’ sex parties, attended by young girls including underage escorts, were only wrapped up in February 2023.
Despite remaining president of his Forza Italia party, a junior partner in Meloni’s coalition, he had largely retired from public view in recent months.
G20 leaders (from left) US President Barack Obama, Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev pose for a family photo during the G20 summit at the ExCel centre, in east London, on April 2, 2009
Pictured: Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and Miss Italia 2008 Miriam Leone
His friendship with Russian President Vladimir Putin put him at odds with Ms Meloni, a staunch supporter of Ukraine.
On his 86th birthday, while the war raged, Mr Putin sent Mr Berlusconi best wishes and vodka, and the Italian boasted he returned the favour by sending back Italian wine.
He suffered increasing health problems – although he maintained his pride in his appearance, always smartly dressed, his slicked-back hair never showing the slightest trace of grey.
But as Mr Berlusconi aged, some derided his perpetual tan, hair transplants and live-in girlfriends who were decades younger. For many years, however, Mr Berlusconi seemed untouchable despite the personal scandals.
Berlusconi burst onto the political scene in the early 1990s, after building up a media and real estate business, where he was viewed as a breath of fresh air after a period of corruption and scandal.
Pitching himself as a modern Italian success story, and backed by his TV stations and newspapers, he secured his first election victory in 1994 with his new movement, Forza Italia (Go Italy!), named after a football chant.
He lasted as prime minister for only nine months, but bounced back with another election win in 2001 after a populist campaign promising jobs and economic growth, signing a ‘Contract with Italians’ live on television.
He served until 2006, and returned again as prime minister between 2008 and 2011, making him the longest-serving premier in Italy’s post-war history.
He was forced to quit as debt-laden Italy – the eurozone’s third largest economy – came under intense pressure during the financial crisis.
The tenure of the man dubbed ‘Il Cavaliere’ (The Knight) divided Italians, as much as over his policies – including his controversial decision to join the US-led invasion of Iraq – as his entire approach to life.
To admirers, the three-time premier was a capable and charismatic statesman who sought to elevate Italy on the world stage.
To critics, he was a populist who threatened to undermine democracy by wielding political power as a tool to enrich himself and his businesses.
Throughout his time in office, prosecutors snapped at his heels, even as his supporters in parliament passed laws to shield him and his allies.
Criminal cases were launched but ended in dismissals when statutes of limitations ran out in Italy’s slow-moving justice system, or he was victorious on appeal.
Investigations targeted the tycoon’s steamy so-called ‘bunga bunga’ parties involving young women and minors, or his businesses, which included the football team AC Milan, the country’s three biggest private TV networks, magazines and a daily newspaper, and advertising and film companies.
Only one probe led to a conviction – a tax fraud case stemming from a sale of movie rights in his business empire.
The conviction was upheld in 2013 by Italy’s top criminal court, but he was spared prison because of his age, 76, and was ordered to do community service by assisting Alzheimer’s patients.
He still was stripped of his senate seat and banned from running or holding public office for six years, under anti-corruption laws.
Matteo Salvini, leader of League, Silvio Berlusconi, leader of Forza Italia, Giorgia Meloni leader of Brothers of Italy, attend the closing rally of the Center right coalition, on September 22
His friendship with Russian President Vladimir Putin put him at odds with Ms Meloni, a staunch supporter of Ukraine. On his 86th birthday, while the war raged, Mr Putin sent Mr Berlusconi best wishes and vodka, and the Italian boasted he returned the favour by sending back Italian wine. Pictured: The pair are seen together in 2010
He suffered personal humiliations as well.
Mr Berlusconi lost his standing as Italy’s richest man, although his sprawling media holdings and luxury property still left him a billionaire several times over.
In 2013, guests at one of his parties included an under-age Moroccan dancer whom prosecutors alleged had sex with Mr Berlusconi in exchange for cash and jewellery.
After a trial spiced by lurid details, a Milan court initially convicted Mr Berlusconi of paying for sex with a minor and using his office to try to cover it up. Both denied having sex with each other, and he was eventually acquitted.
The Catholic Church, at times sympathetic to his conservative politics, was scandalised by his antics, and his wife of nearly 20 years divorced him. But Mr Berlusconi was unapologetic, declaring: ‘I’m no saint.’
Mr Berlusconi insisted that voters were impressed by his brashness.
‘The majority of Italians in their hearts would like to be like me and see themselves in me and in how I behave,’ he said in 2009, during his third and final stint as premier.
He boasted of his libido and entertained friends and world leaders at his villas. At one party, newspapers reported the women were dressed as ‘little Santas’. At another, photos showed topless women and a naked man lounging poolside.
An unrepentant Mr Berlusconi said in 2010: ‘I love life! I love women!’
Despite the multiple court cases – he claimed in 2021 he had gone through 86 trials – he never spent any time behind bars and successfully appealed convictions for fraud and corruption early in his political career.
He was also long suspected of links to the mafia, but strongly denied it.
Despite the multiple court cases – he claimed in 2021 he had gone through 86 trials – Berlusconi never spent any time behind bars and successfully appealed convictions for fraud and corruption early in his political career
From owning AC Milian to ‘bunga bunga’ parties: Who was Silvio Berlusconi, Italy’s former Prime Minister?
Berlusconi was born in 1936 in Milan to a bank employee father and a housewife mother. He went on to father five children, all involved in the running of his business empire.
As a young man, he was quick to realise his talents as an entertainer.
A huge fan of Nat King Cole, he played double bass in a band and made club audiences laugh with jokes during breaks from his law studies at the University of Milan.
As a student, he worked briefly as a cruise ship singer before launching a lucrative career in the booming construction sector in his 20s, which delivered his first fortune.
These funds were used to build a vast conglomerate spanning shops, cinemas, publishers, newspapers and cable television, where he broke new ground with commercial programmes filled with scantily clad women.
Crucially for his public persona, his empire also included football, one of Italy’s great passions.
As well as providing money for AC Milan, he regularly delivered dressing room and training ground pep talks during a period in which the club became one of the world’s most celebrated and trophied success stories.
Silvio Berlusconi, President of AC Milan, lifts the Champions League trophy with his team after they won the European Cup against Benfica in 1990, in Vienna, Austria
Five of AC Milan’s seven European Cup/Champions League triumphs were achieved under Berlusconi’s 31-year ownership.
He sold the club in 2017 after years of lacklustre performances, and in 2018 bought Monza, then in Italy’s third tier.
On the world stage, Berlusconi was known for his friendships with the likes of Libya’s Moamer Kadhafi and Russian President Vladimir Putin – the latter of whom he controversially defended following the 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
He had no time for traditional diplomacy, once likening a German European MP to a Nazi and describing US President Barack Obama as ‘suntanned’.
His image was further tarnished when lurid details emerged of his sex parties at his villa near Milan with its private disco, during a hugely embarrassing trial involving a 17-year-old nightclub dancer.
Berlusconi was sentenced to seven years in prison in 2013 for paying for sex with Karima El-Mahroug, known as ‘Ruby the Heart Stealer’ – but this was later overturned after the judge said there was reasonable doubt that he knew she was underage.
He then stood accused of bribing witnesses to lie about his parties, which he always insisted were elegant dinners. He was acquitted in three related trials.
A relationship with another teenager led to the end of his second marriage with former actress Veronica Lario, who left him in 2009 over his ‘cavorting with minors’.
In March 2022, he held a bizarre fake wedding with his girlfriend Marta Fascina, then 32.
