A life of ups and downs

Silvio Berlusconi, a veteran politician, talented businessman, and Italian media mogul, passed away on June 12 at the age of 86 in Milan, Italy. His life was a long series of ups and downs, fascinating and dramatic.

Cố Thủ tướng Italy Silvio Berlusconi (1936-2023). (Nguồn: Getty Images)

Former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi (1936-2023). (Source: Getty Images)

Mr. Silvio Berlusconi was born in 1936 into a middle-class family in Milan. He graduated with honors from the University of Milan with a degree in Law in 1961, started his empire in construction, then moved into media, finance and entered politics when he was in his 60s.

Sharp politician

Having served as Prime Minister three times for a total of nine years (1994-1995, 2001-2006 and 2008-2011), Mr. Berlusconi is Italy's longest-serving Prime Minister since World War II.

He began his political career in January 1994, at the age of 58. Although he entered politics quite late, billionaire Berlusconi rose to dizzying heights. He was elected Prime Minister of Italy in his first election in March 1994, and his Forza Italia party won a resounding victory just a few months after its founding. However, he had to resign after seven months due to internal fighting, accusations and judicial investigations into his business activities.

In 2001, he returned to politics by winning the election that year and became Prime Minister for a second time with a five-year term. In 2005, Prime Minister Berlusconi had to dissolve the cabinet to form a new government and ended his term a year later.

He went on to win a third term as prime minister in 2008, but lost the job in 2011 as the debt crisis in the EU and Italy reached its peak. At that time, he accused the leaders of France, Germany, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and several other major powers and global financial institutions of pressuring him to resign over his refusal to accept a loan from the IMF, which he said amounted to “selling out the country to the IMF.”

In 2012, Mr Berlusconi was convicted of tax fraud and corruption, banned from politics and sentenced to prison. However, due to his age, he was released on bail to perform a year of community service at a retirement home near his lavish mansion outside Milan. In 2015, he was convicted again of bribing a senator in connection with the overthrow of the centre-left government of Prime Minister Romano Prodi seven years earlier.

Despite his personal legal troubles and the decline of his Forza Italia party, billionaire Berlusconi returned to the political stage after his ban was lifted ahead of the 2018 election. He was elected to the European Parliament at the age of 83 in May 2019 and to the Italian Senate in 2020.

Berlusconi has been a staunch supporter of US policies. He defied public opinion and domestic opposition by sending troops to join the US-led war in Iraq in March 2003. Relations between Italy and Israel and Turkey have also warmed under Berlusconi.

He was one of the most vocal advocates in Rome for closer ties between Russia and the EU, even proposing that Moscow join the EU, insisting that “this is not such a far-fetched dream.” He had a warm personal relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin, and the two continued to meet after he stepped down in 2011.

But the billionaire politician has often had trouble with France, Germany and other close European allies. In July 2003, he caused a stir when he told the European Parliament that German lawmaker Martin Schulz resembled a Nazi concentration camp guard. Although the Italian leader reiterated that he was “just joking,” the insensitive comparison sent relations between Rome and Berlin through a rocky period.

Core filter trader

The son of a banker, he showed an early aptitude for business by doing homework for his classmates and charging them. After a stint as a singer on cruise ships, he began his entrepreneurial ventures in the 1960s with a series of real estate projects as Italy's economy boomed.

By the 1980s, Mr Berlusconi had emerged as a television mogul. His mix of quiz shows, American films, cartoons and housewives’ entertainment, combined with slick commercials featuring scantily clad hostesses, brought a breath of fresh air to Italian entertainment. The innovation in television brought huge profits to Mr Berlusconi’s media companies.

Berlusconi is also a football enthusiast and has made a fortune from the sport. He bought AC Milan in 1986 when it was on the verge of bankruptcy and relegation. In 31 years under Berlusconi, AC Milan has won more titles than the previous 80 years combined, along with the five Ballon d'Or winners: Ruud Gullit, Marco van Basten, George Weah, Andriy Shevchenko and Kaka. AC Milan has won 8 Scudetti, 1 National Cup, 7 Italian Super Cups, 5 Champions Leagues, 2 Intercontinental Cups, 5 European Super Cups and 1 Club World Cup. An achievement that no other club owner has achieved so far.

But in 2017, when he saw that AC Milan's golden age was over, he sold it to a Chinese owner. He then bought AC Monza and brought the club from Serie C to A in just four years.

A lover and talented musician, Mr Berlusconi was a singer on cruise ships when he was young. This love has always been there and that is why he was able to compose some romantic songs while recovering in hospital in 2009.

Forbes magazine once ranked Mr. Berlusconi as the 90th richest person in the world, the second richest in Italy with a fortune of 9.4 billion USD. He is the founder and major shareholder of Fininvest, one of the 10 largest private companies in Italy, operating in the fields of media and finance. He owns three of the seven national television channels and many of the most important newspapers in the boot-shaped country.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni: "Silvio Berlusconi is above all a warrior, he is a man who is never afraid to defend his beliefs. It is that courage and determination that has made him one of the most influential people in Italian history in recent years."

Many talents, many faults

According to the Financial Times, throughout his political career, Mr. Berlusconi has often made statements and actions that show he has no interest in the rule of law. Critics have always considered him a dangerous man who uses money to buy power and manipulates the political and judicial processes.

Like former US President Donald Trump and many other famous politicians around the world, he has millions of supporters and admirers, but also many who are angry at his scandalous behavior as a public figure. However, Berlusconi has always considered himself an independent man, fighting for the values of freedom and fair competition.

“He is a utopian,” said Fedele Confalonieri, chairman of Mediaset, the former prime minister’s media company. “He may be a ‘king’ in some areas and at some times, but as a democratic politician he is clearly an anomaly.”

Berlusconi has been embroiled in a series of scandals in his life. One of them was the “sex party” he organized at his villa near Milan, where he was accused of soliciting underage girls, which led to his conviction and his resignation as prime minister in 2011. Although he was later cleared of the charges, saying he had “paid” for sex with a Moroccan teenage belly dancer known as “Ruby, the heart-stealer.”

Following the scandal, Veronica Lario, his second wife, divorced him. Mr Berlusconi has three children with Veronica Lario and two children with his first wife, Carla Dall'Oglio.

In March 2022, billionaire Berlusconi caused a stir again when he announced a “formal” wedding with his wife, MP Marta Fascina, 53 years his junior. The ceremony looked very much like a wedding, but the two were not legally married at the time due to a dispute between the two families. Berlusconi’s five children said they were “insulted” by their father’s intention to marry. They believed the wedding would help Fascina gain the former Prime Minister’s fortune of more than £5 billion.

After the news of Mr Berlusconi's death was announced, Italian politicians, both allies and opponents, expressed their condolences, emphasizing the former Prime Minister's influence on the country. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said: "Silvio Berlusconi was above all a fighter, a man who was never afraid to defend his beliefs. It was that courage and determination that made him one of the most influential people in Italian history in recent years. We fought together, won and lost, many battles with him. Because of him, we will bring back to Italy the goals we set together."

Meanwhile, former Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi, who holds non-partisan views, said that Mr. Berlusconi "changed Italian politics and was loved by millions of Italians for his kindness and charismatic style."

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