Silvio Berlusconi

Prime Minister

• Born: September 29, 1936
• Birthplace: Milan, Italy
• Died: June 12, 2023
• Place of death: Milan, Italy

Italian entrepreneur and politician

First elected in 1994, Berlusconi served several terms as prime minister of Italy. He used his wealth and position as a media tycoon to propel himself into political prominence as the head of a center-right coalition. He later became one of the most powerful individuals in Italy, despite several scandals.

Sources of wealth: Media; real estate

Bequeathal of wealth: Unknown

Early Life

Silvio Berlusconi grew up in Milan, Italy, in a middle-class family, the oldest of three children of Luigi Berlusconi, a banker, and Rosa Bossi. Berlusconi helped to put himself through college as a bass player in a band and a nightclub singer on Mediterranean cruise ships. He graduated in 1961 with a law degree from the University of Milan. In 1965, he married Carla Elvira Dall’Oglio, his first wife. The couple had two children.

First Ventures

Berlusconi initially made his fortune in real estate in the 1960’s. He lacked experience in construction, but he always possessed a remarkable talent for sales. By the 1970’s, Berlusconi moved into television. Italian television in this era generally featured cultural and public service programming. Berlusconi added American shows, such as Dynasty and Wheel of Fortune, while developing such uniquely Italian programs as the world’s first nude game show.

By the 1990’s, Berlusconi’s Fininvest holdings company included the three Italian national television networks; Montadori, Italy’s largest book and magazine publisher; the nation’s largest film production company; the country’s largest department store chain; the most successful soccer team, Milan AC; the Cinema 5 chain of theaters; a major insurance and mutual fund company; and a daily newspaper, Il Giornale. His television networks commanded about 45 percent of Italy’s viewing audience and about 60 percent of television advertising revenue. The Italian left, concerned about Berlusconi’s power, spoke of passing antitrust legislation to break up his empire. In defense, Berlusconi moved into politics.

Mature Wealth

On January 26, 1994, Berlusconi embarked on his political career by addressing the Italian people on all three of his national television networks. Shown in the study of his eighteenth-century villa behind a commanding desk, Berlusconi gave the impression of already being head of Italy. Within two months, he had created a new political party, Forza Italia (Forward Italy). In May, 1994, Berlusconi took office as prime minister. At the end of 1994, however, Berlusconi stepped down when some members of his center-right coalition left the government amid allegations that he had authorized the payment of bribes while still a private citizen in order to advance his business interests. He remained a major political figure and returned to the prime minister’s office in 2001; he assumed his third term in office on May 8, 2008. In 2011, with Italy reeling from the European debt crisis, Berlusconi was forced to resign.

Forbesmagazine named Berlusconi one of the world’s richest people in 2005. It is an accolade that he continued to hold for more than a decade, despite some personal difficulties. Berlusconi had three children with second wife Veronica Lario, whom he married in 1990 after divorcing Dall’Oglio in 1985. Lario filed for divorce in 2009 after charging Berlusconi with romancing eighteen-year-old Noemi Letizia. The episode became a major scandal in Italy, with Berlusconi claiming that his relationship with Letizia was merely paternal, though it did little to dent his enormous popularity among the Italians.

The 2010s brought further revelations of scandal. In 2012 Berlusconi was found guilty of tax evasion and sentenced to several years' imprisonment, which was commuted to community service due to age. Berlusconi lost his Senate seat and banned from office. The following year he was convicted of hiring an underage prostitute and abuse of power, of which he was later acquitted in 2015. In 2015, he was tried and convicted of bribing a former senator. He and his supporters have alleged that the many charges and trials that Berlusconi has faced over the years constitute persecution by left-wing opponents. Berlusconi died on the morning of June 12, 2023, in Milan. He was 86.

Legacy

Berlusconi has used his charisma and communications skills to create a culture built around the ideas of success, personal wealth, and material well-being. He is representative of changes in both Italy’s economy and its culture. As Italy moved away from an industrial economy and began to enjoy a period of extraordinary prosperity, Berlusconi developed his fortune in television by emphasizing the values of affluence and materialism.

Berlusconi will likely be remembered for his optimism and sales ability. He is the most prominent Italian business leader of his generation. As a politician, he united Italy’s conservative parties and formed an alliance with the center to push the left wing out of power. Critics blamed Berlusconi for poor management of the country's finances, which contributed to the euro crisis and the implementation of austerity measures in the 2010s, and considered him emblematic of political corruption. Regardless, he indisputably dominated Italian politics at the end of the twentieth and the start of the twenty-first centuries.

Bibliography

Ginsborg, Paul. Silvio Berlusconi: Television, Power, and Patrimony. New York: Verso, 2004. Print.

"Profile: Silvio Berlusconi, Italian Ex-Prime Minister." BBC News. BBC, 9 May 2014. Web. 20 Apr. 2016.

Shin, Michael E., and John A. Agnew. Berlusconi’s Italy: Mapping Contemporary Italian Politics. Philadelphia: Temple UP, 2008. Print.

Riotta, Gianni. "The Enduring Appeal of Silvio Berlusconi." Foreign Affairs. Council on Foreign Relations, 1 Oct. 2013. Web. 20 Apr. 2016.

Stille, Alexander. The Sack of Rome: How a Beautiful European Country with a Fabled History and a Storied Culture Was Taken over by a Man Named Silvio Berlusconi. New York: Penguin, 2006. Print.