Billionaire media mogul and former Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi, who transformed the nation’s politics with polarising policies and often alarmed his allies with his brazen remarks, died on Monday aged 86.
Berlusconi, Italy’s longest-serving premier who counted Russian President Vladimir Putin as a friend and gained notoriety for his “bunga bunga” sex parties, had suffered from leukaemia and recently developed a lung infection.
He died at Milan’s San Raffaele Hospital, where he was admitted on Friday. Four of his five children and his brother Paolo were at his bedside when he took his last breath.
A state funeral will be held in Milan on Wednesday.
Berlusconi’s passing was mourned by political allies and rivals at home and leaders abroad, including Putin.
He said: “He was a true friend. I have always sincerely admired his wisdom, his ability to make balanced, far-sighted decisions even in the most difficult situations.”
After building a real estate, football and television empire in the 1970s and 1980s, Berlusconi threw himself into politics, becoming prime minister four times – in 1994-5, 2001-5, 2005-6 and 2008-11 – despite multiple legal scandals.
When he last stepped down in 2011, Italy was close to a Greek-style debt crisis and his own reputation sullied by allegations that he had hosted “bunga bunga” sex parties with underage women, something he denied.
He was acquitted on appeal on all charges related to the parties, but he was convicted for tax fraud in 2013, leading to a five-year ban on holding public office.
Despite his health woes and the relentless court battles, Berlusconi refused to relinquish control of Forza Italia and returned to frontline politics, winning a seat in the European Parliament in 2019 and in the Italian Senate last year.
Perennially sun-tanned and vigorously promoted by his own media companies, Berlusconi brought his great skills as a salesman and communicator to the staid world of politics, offering a bright, optimistic outlook that voters lapped up.
His sense of humour often landed him in trouble, most recently in December when he told players of his Monza soccer team he would bring them “a bus of whores” if they beat a top Serie A rival. They went on to win.
Berlusconi is survived by his 33-year-old partner Marta Fascina, whom he called his wife despite not marrying her, two ex-spouses, five children, more than a dozen grandchildren and one great grandson.
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