A self-made dollar billionaire, Silvio Berlusconi was the 74th richest person in the world, with a fortune estimated at $12 billion in 2005. Berlusconi was a media mogul, a prime minister, and the richest person in the country.
He was born on September 29, 1936 in Milan, Italy.
Italian multi-entrepreneur Berlusconi rose to the media empire with his billions in the 80s. Berlusconi, chief of the political movement Forza Italia, was appointed prime minister of his country in 1994.
The son of a Milanese bank clerk, Berlusconi studied law in his native city after graduating from high school. After working for a construction company in Milan for a short time, at the age of 24 he founded his own construction company under the name Holding Cantieri Riunti Milanesi.
Berlusconi did his best to participate in the necessary urbanization of this northern Italian metropolis by developing building plans for large-scale satellite sites in Milan in the mid-60s. He achieved the financial success he hoped for with the neighborhood he founded. After that, in the 70s, he built congress and shopping centers that increased his prestige first.
Berlusconi's secret passion was towards the media industry. After establishing a local cable television program broadcast by him for a satellite city designed by him, he became a partner in some television channels in the mid-70s.
As the first private entrepreneur, he failed to achieve his goal of offering a nationwide program, as Italian laws provide for a public/legal monopoly in this area.
Through his Channel 5, Berlusconi found a way to break this rule by signing contracts with local channel owners so that they all broadcast the program he envisioned at the same time. The idea that the media law was violated in this way was soon repealed.
Knowing how to turn the TV chain into a profitable business, Berlusconi, a resourceful advertising strategist, subsequently bought other television stations (1983: Italia Uno; 1984: Rete Quattro) and merged them into Fininvest SpA Holding, which he founded in 1982. In this way, Berlusconi reached the position of being a private television broadcaster dominating the Italian market, expanding internationally in the mid-80s and first partnering with television channels in Spain, France, Germany (Tele 5) and Canada.
Apart from these, Berlusconi directed his establishment to various branches. He founded his own film distribution company by investing in film companies. He took over the Italian big merchandising and real estate market. He took over the Italian football club AC Milan, making it the most influential club in Europe in the years that followed.
After 1989, it gradually spread to the field of press media. He bought shares in Mondadon, one of the leading publishing houses of his country, and as a result of the fierce discussions he made, he secured the control of some parts of the publishing house.
Berlusconi's holding reached a turnover of 12-13 billion DM in the early 90s, and it also had commitments (debts) of about 4 billion DM (1993). Fearing the growing power of this media giant, the government passed a new media law in 1990. Thereupon, Berlusconi, the father of five children (from two marriages), had to sell his shares in the interregional newspaper 11 Giornale, as he owned all three television channels.
Going to a new restructuring in his empire, Berlusconi appointed Franco Tato, who put Fininvest's publishing business on the stock market, as manager at the end of 1993.
Berlusconi, who entered politics in mid-1993, transferred the management of his holding to his trusted relative, Fedele Ctinfalönieri.
His work with the national right-wing Lega Nord under Umberto Bossi also sparked violent protests. Forza Italia emerged from the parliamentary elections in 1994 as the strongest political force, thanks to Berlusconi's power in the media. Berlusconi was appointed prime minister of a coalition government that included four neo-fascist ministers.
In December 1994, a preliminary investigation was opened against Berlusconi, who was the head of the government. Berlusconi resigned when the coalition collapsed in the same month.
March 2022
Berlusconi held a 'symbolic wedding' with his girlfriend 53 years younger than him
Former Italian Prime Minister, Silvio Berlusconi, held a "cole free wedding" ceremony with his lover Marta Fascina, with whom he has been together for about 3 years.
According to information leaked from the celebration, which was not taken by the media, the ceremony looked like a real wedding, except for official signatures and legal obligations.
Marta Fascina, 32, wore a white wedding dress with a tail at the ceremony. From the bridal bouquet to the wedding cake and orchestra, an ordinary wedding atmosphere was created. However, no official action was taken to cause the couple to be considered married, according to Italian law.
The allegation that 85-year-old Berlusconi and 32-year-old Fascina were preparing to marry emerged a few weeks ago, and the former prime minister denied these reports.
Berlusconi said, "The love and respect that binds me to Ms. Marta Fascina is so deep and tangible that there is no need to formalize it with marriage," but said that he was planning an invitation "to celebrate this bond."
September 2022
Berlusconi enters the Senate
The general elections in Italy shook Europe, which was having a hard time. Giorgia Meloni, leader of the far-right Party of the Brothers of Italy (FdI), declared victory. Thus, she embarked on the path of becoming the country's first female prime minister.
Among the parties that Meloni has allied with is former Prime Minister Berlusconi's Let's Italy Party.
The total vote rate of the right alliance exceeded 44 percent. The support of Silvio Berlusconi, one of the country's longest-serving politicians in the prime minister's seat, to the new right-wing coalition is of key importance for the formation of the government.
In addition, Berlusconi, who was expelled from the Senate due to his conviction in a lawsuit that was found to be tax evasion in 2013 and was banned from politics for 6 years, will return to the Senate after 9 years by winning the elections.
Berlusconi, 85, was elected from the constituency of Monza and won the right to enter the Senate.