Former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi dies aged 86

Italy’s former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has died at the age of 86 at the San Raffaele hospital in Milan, according to Italian press.

The media mogul served as Prime Minister of Italy four times between 1994 and 2011, and his party Forza Italia is currently part of the country’s Governing coalition led by Giorgia Meloni.

He is best known for his lavish and controversial lifestyle, who’s political and business career were mired in sex scandals, conviction for tax fraud and allegations of corruption.

Mr Berlusconi started his business career in the construction sector, and was responsible for the development of Milano Due, a 4,000 residential apartment area in east of Milan.

He also set up a small media company in the 1970s, TeleMilano which was Italy’s first private TV channel. It later evolved into Canale 5. He also founded Mediaset, which eventually became Italy’s largest commercial broadcaster.

He also owned the Italian football team AC Milan between 1986 and 2017.

His health took a downturn in recent months as he underwent treatment for a lung inflection linked to chronic myelomonocytic leukaemia. He is survived by five children

Featured Image: Silvio Berlusconi via Facebook

Written by

Arnas Lasys

Arnas takes a keen interest in geopolitical affairs, economics, and data visualisation. He believes that where words fail to get the point across, graphs do. Can regularly be found tending to an array of plants at home or trying some vague new cuisine to broaden his palate.

Spotlight