Silvio Berlusconi Dies: Media Mogul & Former Italian Prime Minister Was 86

Silvio Berlusconi, the former Italian Prime Minister and media mogul, has died at 86, according to Italian media reports. Local press said Berlusconi died at the San Raffaele hospital in Milan. He had been in poor health and, in April, was treated for a lung infection linked to a previously undisclosed case of chronic leukemia.

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Berlusconi was a highly controversial former Italian Prime Minister and media mogul who was a giant of Italian politics and the longest-serving in the post since World War II.

He served as Prime Minister of Italy in four governments from 1994 to 2011 and had recently been returned to the Senate of the Republic in the Giorgia Meloni government, leading the centre-right Forza Italia Party. Given his domineering political position, his death could lead to a destabilization of Italian politics in the coming months.

Along with A.C. Milan football club, the media tycoon was the owner of one of Italy’s largest media outfits, Mediaset, which he continued to own during his time in power – a source of much controversy. He sold A.C. Milan six years ago to a Chinese firm but was a controlling Mediaset shareholder upon his death. Run by his son Pier Silvio Berlusconi, the company most recently rebranded to MediaForEurope, completing a takeover bid of its Spanish TV subsidiary Mediaset Espana last year.

His ownership of Mediaset was riddled with scandal. A long-running tax fraud trial related to Mediaset saw him convicted of tax fraud a decade ago and banned from holding office for two years, although his four-year prison sentence was eventually exempt due to his being over the age of 70.

The Milan-born billionaire’s career was also riddled with other sex scandals and corruption allegations. Amongst other accusations, Berlusconi was also accused and initially formally convicted of paying 17-year-old Moroccan Karima El Mahroug, also known by the stage name Ruby Rubacuori, for sexual services between February and May 2010 when she was under the age of 18. He was eventually found not guilty on appeal but the trial hung over him for years.

In a video statement Monday morning, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni described Berlusconi as “one of the most influential men in Italy’s history.”

“He was a man who was never afraid to stand up for his beliefs. And it was exactly that courage and that determination that made him one of the most influential men in the history of Italy, that allowed him to make real breakthroughs in the world of politics, communication, and business,” Meloni said.

She continued: “With him, Italy learned that it should never have limits imposed on it. He learned that he should never give up. With him, we have fought, won, and lost many battles. And for him too we will bring home the goals that we set ourselves together. Goodbye, Silvio.”

Reacting to the news, Italy’s Defence Minister Guido Crosetto said Berlusconi’s death left a “huge void”. “An era is over… Farewell Silvio,” Crosetto wrote in a tweet, adding that he “loved” Berlusconi “very much”.