Silvio Berlusconi, the longest serving prime minister in post-World War II Italy, has died at the age of 86.
Silvio Berlusconi died at the San Raffaele Hospital in Milan, Italy, according to a report by gazzetta.it. The former prime minister was suffering from leukaemia.
At the time of his death, Berlusconi owned the Mediaset group, which had three television channels and roughly half the audience, but also Publitalia, the leading advertising agency and Italy’s biggest publishing house, and Panorama, one of the most popular news magazines.
In the early 2000s, the oligarch’s capital was estimated at $12 billion; in 2017, Bloomberg valued Berlusconi’s total net worth at $8.39 billion.
Berlusconi entered the political arena at the age of 57. He became the leader of the right-wing Forza Italia! party, which sought to achieve a free market in the country and social equality based on freedom and justice.
After Berlusconi’s political downfall, he hit the headlines with a series of scandals, but never once served jail time, despite allegations that underage prostitutes had attended his infamous parties.
The series of scandals and trials did not discourage him from returning to politics, and he even stood in the Italian elections the year before last.
Silvio Berlusconi is the longest serving Prime Minister of post-World War II Italy. He served three terms: from 1994 to 1995, from 2001 to 2006 and from 2008 to 2011.
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