Background

Born in Milan, Italy, on September 29, 1936, Silvio Berlusconi rose from a middle class background to become one of the wealthiest men in the country.

His father, Luigi Berlusconi (1908–1989), was a bank employee, and his mother, Rosa Bossi (1911–2008), a housewife. Silvio was the first of three children; he had a sister, Maria Francesca Antonietta Berlusconi (1943–2009), and has a brother, Paolo Berlusconi (born 1949).

Education

After completing his secondary school education at a Salesian college, he studied law at the Università Statale in Milan, graduating (with honours) in 1961, with a thesis on the legal aspects of advertising. Berlusconi was not required to serve the standard one-year stint in the Italian army which was compulsory at the time. During his university studies, he was an upright bass player in a group formed with the now Mediaset Chairman and amateur pianist Fedele Confalonieri and occasionally performed as a cruise ship crooner.

Career

After he received a law degree, with honors, from the University of Milan in 1961, he borrowed money from the bank where his father worked and went into real estate development, setting up the companies Cantieri Riuniti Milanesi in 1962 and Edilnord in 1963. With Italy's prosperity in the 1960s had come a huge demand for housing, and Berlusconi was there to take advantage of it. His projects included Milano 2, a suburban development of 4,000 housing units on the outskirts of Milan, completed in 1969. He followed this with another residential development, Milano 3, in 1976.

Berlusconi went into television by establishing the cable TV company Telemilano in 1974 and bringing this service to the housing complexes he had built. A 1976 court decision paved the way for more television ventures. Italy's Constitutional Court ruled that while the public-sector network, Radio Televisione Italiana, could have a monopoly on national broadcast television, local markets were open to all.

Setting up a holding company, Fininvest, in 1978 as an umbrella for his various projects, Berlusconi delved into numerous aspects of the television industry. He rented films to local TV stations; in turn, the stations had to carry advertising they bought through Fininvest's advertising agency, Publitalia.

In 1980 he set up the Canale 5 television network. To avoid running afoul of regulators, Canale 5 operated legally as a group of local stations. However, all the stations carried the same programs simultaneously by means of videotape, making it a national network in practice.

In 1981 Italy's Constitutional Court decided to allow privately owned networks to broadcast nationally. Berlusconi responded by buying Canale 5's primary competitors, Italia 1 in 1983 and Rete 4 in 1984, giving him about 45 percent of the national broadcast market, equivalent to Radio Televisione Italiana's share. His networks broadcast soap operas and game shows, which proved popular in contrast to the highbrow programming on the public network. The Constitutional Court, however, also favored strong antitrust regulations on private broadcasters and urged the Italian parliament to pass such legislation. Despite this, and despite widespread criticism of Berlusconi's large market share, the parliament in 1990 enacted a very weak antitrust law.

Berlusconi kept expanding his holdings, adding broadcast operations outside Italy and such diverse acquisitions as the AC Milan soccer club in 1986, La Standa department stores in 1988, and the Arnoldo Mondadori Editore publishing house in 1990. The Fininvest empire grew to about 150 companies. His critics continued to object to the degree of control he exercised over national television, but in the 1990s, demonstrating his trademark determination and tenacity, he fought back by going into politics. In 1993 he formed the political party Forza Italia, which means "Go Italy," a cheer used by fans of his soccer team. Berlusconi forged a coalition with two right-wing parties, the National Alliance and the Northern League. His personal popularity, enhanced by his status as a political outsider at a time when many insiders had been accused of enriching themselves at public expense in a widespread scandal known as Tangentopoli (Bribesville), helped him win the office of prime minister in 1994. Berlusconi had climbed to the top in national politics by "using the same methods and many of the same people as he had used to become a billionaire".

Berlusconi stepped down as Fininvest's chairman in 1994, but the company remained under his ownership. Many Italians called for the new prime minister to sell some of his businesses, which he declined to do. Public outcry increased when he proposed that one of Fininvest's advisers, the merchant bank Mediobanca, assist in the privatization of state-run companies. Moreover, some of his appointees in the new government had been involved in the Tangentopoli scandal, and conflicts arose with the leaders of the National Alliance and the Northern League. Berlusconi was forced to resign as prime minister in December 1994, after only seven months in office.

Berlusconi then made some conciliatory moves, such as selling stakes in some of his businesses to outside investors. In 1995 he sold 28 percent of Mediaset, a company he had formed to unite his television, advertising, film, and recording ventures, to outside investors, and in 1996 he announced a public stock offering to further reduce his share. That year, he was elected to parliament, despite having been accused over the years of crimes that included tax evasion, bribery, and antitrust violations. Although convicted of some corruption-related charges, he appealed and stayed out of jail. In 2004 he was taken to court again, this time on charges of bribing judges. He maintained his innocence of all the charges brought against him, which he contended were politically motivated.

Many Italians continued to support Berlusconi, electing him prime minister again in 2001 to a term ending in 2006. In 2003 he became president of the European Union, a post that rotates among European heads of state every six months. He remained "one of Europe's most unusual and flamboyant leaders, a media magnate and political titan who has amassed, or at least sought, an astonishing degree of power, yet always seems to be dancing one small step ahead of disaster."

Achievements

• Silvio Berlusconi is noted for his entrepreneurial spirit and flamboyance in his rise to the heights of Italian business and politics. His investments in real estate, media, and sports made him Italy's richest man, and he served two separate terms as the country's prime minister.
  
  Touching on almost every aspect of Italian life, his holdings included three television networks, Italy's largest publishing house, department stores, and a soccer team.
  
  In 2004 Forbes magazine ranked Berlusconi the richest person in Italy and the 30th wealthiest worldwide, with a net worth of $10 billion.

Politics

In 1993, Berlusconi founded a political party, Forza Italia (Go Italy). He became prime minister in 1994, and remained a popular political figure even after the coalition that brought him to power fell apart, especially among people who believed his business acumen would help Italy's economy. With promises of tax cuts and job growth, he took over as prime minister again in 2001, staying in power until 2006.

With his renamed political party, Popolo della Libertà (People of Freedom), Berlusconi became prime minister for a third time in 2008. He resigned in 2011, after witnessing Italy's debt burdens surge during the eurozone crisis, before being banned from office in 2013.

A number of writers and political commentators consider Berlusconi's political success a precedent for the 2016 election of real estate tycoon Donald Trump as the 45th President of the United States, with most noting Berlusconi's panned Prime Ministerial tenure and therefore making the comparison in dismay.

Views

Berlusconi promoted many of the veline from his television programs to government positions. In 2007, Berlusconi told Mara Carfagna, a velina he had brought into politics, "If I weren't already married, I would marry you right now." Hearing this public declaration, Berlusconi's wife, Veronica Lario, published a letter demanding an apology. After Berlusconi attended an aspiring velina's 18th birthday party in 2009, Lario opted to end the marriage.

Another Berlusconi scandal was the revelation about his "bunga bunga" sex parties. At these parties, women—often wearing costumes—danced and disrobed for Berlusconi and his guests. Berlusconi has stated that the gatherings were nothing more than dinner parties.

Accusations of criminal misbehavior followed Berlusconi into office, leading to charges of embezzlement, tax fraud and bribery. Being in power helped him avoid some charges—he passed one law that granted the prime minister immunity while in office (the law was later struck down). Berlusconi was also able to fight other accusations until the statute of limitations ran out.

However, Berlusconi has been convicted multiple times. In October 2012, Berlusconi was sentenced to four years for tax fraud. And in June 2013, Berlusconi was sentenced to seven years for paying an underage woman, Karima "Ruby" el Mahroug, for sex. El Mahroug was 17 when she attended several of Berlusconi's "bunga bunga" parties in 2010. Berlusconi was also convicted of abusing the power of his office, for attempting to get el Mahroug out of jail by telling police that she was related to Egypt's Hosni Mubarak.

Berlusconi never admitted to any wrongdoing and ultimately never had to spend a day in jail, instead serving his sentences by performing community service.

He also proved an enduring figure in the public realm. In early 2018, at age 81, Berlusconi was well received at a rally before a parliamentary election, in which a coalition led by his revamped Forza Italia party was expected to win the most votes.

Membership

After serving nearly 19 years as a member of the Chamber of Deputies, Italy's lower house, after the 2013 general election he became a member of the Senate.

He was also a member of the Senate of the Republic.

Personality

As a young singer Silvio Berlusconi has worked on a cruise ship. In 2003 he recorded an album of love ballads composed by him «Better with a Song». In 2006 Berlusconi has released a music album on his own 70th birthday.

On 7 June 2016, after the campaign for the local elections, Berlusconi was hospitalized to the San Raffaele Hospital in Milan because of heart problems. After two days, on 9 June, his personal doctor Alberto Zangrillo announced that the stroke could have killed him and he must have heart surgery to replace a defective aortic valve.

In 2011 he released his fourth album, «Il vero amore», which appeared as the author of poems.

In 2012, Forbes magazine reported that Berlusconi was Italy's sixth richest man, with a net worth of $5.9 billion. He holds significant assets in television, newspaper, publishing, cinema, finance, banking, insurance, and sports.

Berlusconi's main company, Mediaset, operates three national television channels covering half of the national television sector; and Publitalia (it), the leading Italian advertising and publicity agency. Berlusconi also owns a controlling stake in Arnoldo Mondadori Editore, the largest Italian publishing house, whose publications include Panorama, one of the country's most popular news magazines. His brother, Paolo Berlusconi, owns and operates il Giornale, a centre-right newspaper which provides a pro-Berlusconi slant on Italian politics. Il Foglio, one of the most influential Italian right-wing newspapers, is partially owned by his former wife, Veronica Lario. After Lario sold some of her ownership in 2010, Paolo Berlusconi acquired a majority interest in the newspaper. He founded and is the major shareholder of Fininvest, which is among the largest private companies in Italy; it operates in media and finance. With Ennio Doris he founded Mediolanum, one of the country's biggest banking and insurance groups. He has interests in cinema and home video distribution (Medusa Film and Penta Film). He also owned the football club A.C. Milan from 1986 to 2017.

In April 2017, Berlusconi appeared in a video promoting a vegetarian Easter campaign. Berlusconi was shown cuddling lambs he had adopted to save from slaughtering for the traditional Easter Sunday feast. He has neither confirmed nor denied whether he himself is a vegetarian, however.

Interests

• Artists

  Robert De Niro

Connections

In 1965, he married Carla Elvira Dall'Oglio, and they had two children: Maria Elvira, better known as Marina (born 1966), and Pier Silvio (born 1969). By 1980, Berlusconi had established a relationship with the actress Veronica Lario (born Miriam Bartolini), with whom he subsequently had three children: Barbara (born 1984), Eleonora (born 1986) and Luigi (born 1988). He was divorced from Dall'Oglio in 1985, and married Lario in 1990. By this time, Berlusconi was a well-known entrepreneur, and his wedding was a notable social event. One of his best men was Bettino Craxi, a former prime minister and leader of the Italian Socialist Party. In May 2009, Lario announced that she was to file for divorce.

On 28 December 2012, Berlusconi was ordered to pay his ex-wife Veronica Lario $48 million a year in a divorce settlement that was filed Christmas Day, and he will keep the $100 million house they live in with their three children.

In addition to his five children, Berlusconi has ten grandchildren.

At the end of April 2009, Berlusconi's wife Veronica Lario, who would divorce him several years later, wrote an open letter expressing her anger at Berlusconi's choice of young, attractive female candidates—some with little or no political experience—to represent the party in the 2009 European Parliament elections. Berlusconi demanded a public apology, claiming that for the third time his wife had "done this to me in the middle of an election campaign", and stated that there was little prospect of his marriage continuing. On 3 May, Lario announced she was filing for divorce. She claimed that Berlusconi had not attended his own sons' 18th birthday parties, and that she "cannot remain with a man who consorts with minors" and "is not well."

1st wife:

Carla Dall'Oglio

(m. 1965; div. 1985)

Daughter:

Marina

Son:

Pier Silvio

2-nd wife:

Veronica Lario

(m. 1990; div. 2010)

Daughter:

Eleonora

Son:

Luigi

Daughter:

Barbara

Friend:

Vladimir Putin

References

• Silvio Berlusconi: Television, Power and Patrimony
• Being Berlusconi: The Rise and Fall from Cosa Nostra to Bunga Bunga eBook: Michael Day: Books
• Silvio Berlusconi's Italy: a portrait of the country and its godfather
• Berlusconi: The Epic Story of the Billionaire Who Took Over Italy
• Silvio Berlusconi: A Biography eBook: Steven Needham: Books
• The Sack of Rome: Media + Money + Celebrity = Power = Silvio Berlusconi
• My Way: Berlusconi in His Own Words