Silvio Berlusconi: Italy's once-untouchable prime minister - BBC News Silvio Berlusconi: Italy's once-untouchable prime minister 14 June 2016 Image copyright Getty Images Image caption Berlusconi dominated Italian politics from the 1990s until 2013 Few Italians have wielded more influence and attracted more notoriety than Silvio Berlusconi, four-time prime minister and billionaire businessman. For years he successfully brushed off sex scandals and allegations of corruption but it was the effects of Italy's burgeoning eurozone debt crisis in 2011 that finally spelt an end to his time at the top table of politics. The charismatic showman was replaced by a technocrat and his centre-right party split. Worse was to come for a man whom many Italians had come to see as untouchable. He was convicted of tax fraud in 2013 and ejected from the Italian Senate. Because of his age, a four-year jail term became a year of community service at a care home near Milan. Another conviction in 2015 and his political career was finally over.

For years his looks belied his age, with a little help from hair transplants and plastic surgery. However, after a heart attack that his doctor said could have killed him, he has had heart surgery to replace a defective valve. From crooner to business mogul Berlusconi, 79, remains one of Italy's richest men. He and his family have built a fortune estimated at $6.6bn (£4.6bn; €6.6bn) by US business magazine Forbes . Born on 29 September 1936, Berlusconi lived through the war as a child. Like many Milan children, he was evacuated and lived with his mother in a village some distance from the city. He began his career selling vacuum cleaners and built a reputation as a crooner, first in nightclubs and then on cruise ships. Image copyright Getty Images Image caption Berlusconi's children play a big role in running his business empire: daughter Barbara is vice-president of AC Milan "I had a repertoire of 150 different songs and I took requests from the audience," he told biographer Alan Friedman.

He graduated in law in 1961 and then set up Edilnord, a construction company, establishing himself as a residential housing developer around his native Milan. Ten years later he launched a local cable-television outfit - Telemilano - which would grow into Italy's biggest media empire, Mediaset, controlling the country's three largest private TV stations. His huge Fininvest holding company now has Mediaset, Italy's largest publishing house Mondadori, daily newspaper Il Giornale, AC Milan football club and dozens of other companies under its umbrella. His children, Marina, Barbara, Pier Silvio, Eleonora and Luigi all take part in the running of his business empire. Rise and fall of Forza Italia In 1993, Berlusconi founded his own political party, Forza Italia (Go Italy), named after an Italian football chant. The following year he became prime minister, heading a coalition with the right-wing National Alliance and Northern League. Many hoped his business acumen could help revitalise Italy's economy. They longed for a break with the corruption and instability which had marred Italian politics for a decade.

Media captionSilvio Berlusconi was a major player in Italian politics for over 20 years But rivalries between the three coalition leaders, coupled with Berlusconi's indictment for alleged tax fraud by a Milan court, confounded those hopes and led to the collapse of the government seven months later. He lost the 1996 election to the left-wing Romano Prodi but by 2001 he was back in power, in coalition once more with his former partners. Having headed the longest-serving Italian government since World War Two, he was again defeated by Mr Prodi in 2006. He returned to office in 2008 at the helm of a revamped party, renamed the People of Freedom (PDL). His support drained away in 2011, as the country's borrowing costs rocketed at the height of the eurozone debt crisis, and he resigned after losing his parliamentary majority. Image copyright AP Image caption He was once hit in the face by a man with psychiatric problems but stood defiantly in front of supporters Initially his party supported the technocratic government of Mario Monti and his reform programme. But in December 2012, his PDL withdrew its backing, forcing an early election.

In February 2013, he showed he had not lost his touch when he closed a huge gap to come within 1% of winning a general election - close enough to play a part in the governing coalition. But after an uncomfortable period when the PDL backed Enrico Letta's government, the party split and Berlusconi relaunched it under the old name, Forza Italia . Opinion polls now place Forza Italia well behind the other big parties. Milanese courtroom dramas Much of Berlusconi's political career ran in tandem with a litany of legal battles. A native of Milan, he frequently complained of being victimised by its legal authorities. In 2009, he estimated that over 20 years he had made 2,500 court appearances in 106 trials, at a legal cost of €200m. Image copyright Getty Images Image caption Berlusconi eventually carried out community service as part of his conviction for tax fraud He denied embezzlement, tax fraud and false accounting, and attempting to bribe a judge. And on numerous occasions he was acquitted, had convictions overturned or watched them expire under a statute of limitations.

But he received a setback when in 2011 the Constitutional Court struck down part of a law granting him and other senior ministers temporary immunity. From now on it was up to individual trial judges to decide. By the end of the year he was out of power and in October 2012 he was given four years for tax fraud and barred from public office. But it was not until 1 August 2013 that Italy's supreme court upheld the verdict . Berlusconi declared his innocence and spoke of a "judicial coup". Because he was over 75, he did not go to jail but did community service, working four hours a week with elderly dementia patients at a Catholic care home near Milan. The many trials of Berlusconi Berlusconi's women and bunga-bunga parties Berlusconi's struggles in the political arena and the courtroom have been accompanied by a string of lascivious reports about his private life. He met second wife Veronica Lario after she performed topless in a play.

When he was photographed at the 18th birthday party of aspiring model Noemi Letizia, she decided to divorce him and also accused him of selecting a "shamelessly trashy" list of candidates for the European parliament. Image copyright AFP Image caption Both Silvio Berlusconi and Karima El Mahroug denied they had sex But his reputation was tarnished most by allegations of raunchy "bunga-bunga" parties at his private villa attended by showgirls. The reports culminated in a conviction of paying for sex with an underage prostitute. In October 2010, it emerged that Silvio Berlusconi had called a police station asking for the release of a 17-year-old girl, Karima "Ruby" El Mahroug. She was being held for theft and was also said to have attended his "bunga-bunga" parties. In June 2013 he was found guilty of paying her for sex, and of abuse of power. The case was eventually overturned in 2014 .

Berlusconi has always maintained he is "no saint" but firmly denies having ever paid for sex with a woman, saying: "I never understood where the satisfaction is when you're missing the pleasure of conquest." His turn of phrase has always delighted like-thinkers and horrified critics. In one of his most recent examples , he said his family was so persecuted they felt "like the families of Jews... under Hitler's regime". The remark drew condemnation from Italian Jews. In December 2009, he was assaulted in a street in Milan - hit in the face with a souvenir of Milan cathedral, by a mentally disturbed man. With a bloodied face and broken teeth, he got out of the car into which he had been bundled by security guards to show his defiance. Silvio Berlusconi Net Worth - biography, quotes, wiki, assets, cars, homes and more Silvio Berlusconi Net Worth About Quotes Trivia Born on: 29th Sep 36 Born in: Italy Marital status: Married Occupation: Mediaset, Arnoldo Mondadori Editore Silvio Berlusconi net worth is estimated at $9 billion.

Former Italian Prime minister and businessman Silvio Berlusconi amassed his fortune from media ventures and real estate. The Italian politician has served many roles throughout his controversial life facing sex scandals, judicial probes, and political gaffes as his daily work along with enjoying a colorful marriage life. Founder of the conservative party Forza Italia and one of the most fascinating and controversial figures of Europe, Silvio served three terms as Italy’s Prime minister. Son of a bank employee, Silvio Berlusconi started his career selling vacuum cleaners and then built his reputation as a crooner in nightclubs. A law graduate from the university in Milan, the Italian media tycoon started his own building construction business, this first step became crucial to Silvio Berlusconi net worth. Just one year after establishing his own political party in 1993, Silvio became Italy’s prime minister for the first time. He got married twice and has five children. Italy’s longest serving post war minister is one of the country’s richest men. The 75 year old businessman has built Silvio Berlusconi net worth estimated at $9 billion by the US business magazine Forbes.

His main company Mediaset accounts for half of the Italian television sector while his other company Arnoldo Mondadori Editore is Italy’s largest publishing house, enabling him reap heavy profits inflating Silvio Berlusconi net worth in return. In 1986, he bought the AC Milan Football club, the acquisition being considered a link for his political success. A dozen of other companies including three RAI public channels and Italy’s three biggest private TV stations come under Silvio’s umbrella. Silvio was accused of numerous criminal activities including – bribery, corruption, abuse of power, paying a minor for sex and fraud. The glamour bitten prime minister was also in news for rewarding young showgirls with luxurious cars, rent-free apartments and jobs. Involved in judicial probes related to sex scandals and political scams, the notorious politician was subjected to 2500 court hearings and 174 million Euros in legal fees. His high profile lifestyle and popularity in Italy has made him a figure worth watching. Despite the several cases filed against him, Silvio bears a clear record to date.

Family & relationships Silvio Berlusconi Estates and Homes (6) Villa San Martino Billionaire politician and businessman Silvio Berlusconi owns the Villa San Martino, which is his prime residence near Milano. The lavish accommodation incorporates literally everything, making it an ideal Tycoon residence. The vast building derives its name from the locality San Martino. Location: Silvio’s luxurious residence of leisure is located in Arcore near Milano. Accommodation: The major property is a three sided building constructed around a courtyard. The plush dwelling includes an impressive tree lined drive, surrounding parks and extensive exterior works. The neo classical property also incorporates a massive 10,000 volume library making it a paradise to gain knowledge. Silvio has also built a marble family resting place in the villa for enhancing his family’s comfort. The massive pool and gorgeous tennis court are added attractions of the lavish building. Villa Correnti In 2008, Silvio acquired a historic mansion Villa Correnti, built on the banks of beautiful northern Italian lake. The impressive mansion was crafted to perfection by Cesare Correnti, an Italian senator who’s also known as the hero of Italian unification.

The lavish mansion entails a rich history as it was formerly owned by the Garavoglia family of the pink aperitif fame. Location: Silvio’s lavish Villa Correnti is located in Lesa on the banks of the northern Italian lake, Lake Maggiore. Accommodation: Built on the banks of Lake Maggiore, Silvio’s majestic mansion itself brings in an aura of positivity and peace. The spacious mansion holds sufficient room for landing a helicopter on the lakeside, making it easily accessible for politics. Its remarkable features include graveled pathways, manicured lawns and azalea bushes. Blue Horizon Italian media magnate Silvio Berlusconi’s owns a House “Blue Horizon” in exclusive gated enclave Tuckers Town, Bermuda. The lavish villa is estimated to be more than US $6.9 million. Location: The plush expensive house is located in Tuckers Town, Bermuda. Neighborhood: The former Italian Prime minister’s Bermuda villa is adjacent to the dwelling of New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg. Antigua home Billionaire Silvio owns a luxury residential complex in Antigua, a paradise of scintillating and secluded beaches.

Location: Silvio’s lavish estate finds place in the Island of crystal clear water, Antigua. Neighborhood: Distinguished rich residents in the Island paradise include Oprah Winfrey, Giorgio Armani, Ken Follet and Eric Clapton. Costa Smeralda home Billionaire businessman Silvio owns a plush estate, Villa Certosa in Sardinia, which is popular for his controversial private parties with teenagers and prostitutes. The glamour bitten politician bought it in 1988 for an estimated sum of 450 million Euros. The Berlusconi family used to spend their summer vacations in the lavish residential accommodation. Accommodation: Silvio’s lavish Sardinia estate is spread over an area of 4000 square meters. Villa Belvedere Business tycoon Silvio also owns a 19the century estate outside Milan, Villa Belvedere. The lavish estate is the place of abode for Miss Veronica Lario and the couple’s three children and is estimated worth 86 million Euros. Silvio Berlusconi Yachts (2) Custom Line 124 yacht Silvio Berlusconi is the longest-serving post-war Prime Minister of Italy has built a fortune estimated at $9billion.

The Ex Prime Minister was in news for his private sex and other scandals. Silvio Berlusconi owns an ultra rich Ferretti Custom super yacht. This beauty costs him 18 million Euros. Features: The Ferretti Yachts Group, launched the first yacht in their 124’ Custom Line yacht model using the travel-lift system at the Ferretti Group facility in Ancona in 2010. Silvio Berlusconi was amongst the first few billionaires to own this super luxurious yacht. This beautiful yacht is the brain child of Architect Gianni Zuccon of Studio Zuccon International Project. Accommodation: The sleek and graceful outside lines are the trademark of all Ferretti Custom Line yachts hence they stand out form all other yachts. There is a saloon on board that has a large shiny gate which allows the sunlight enter the yacht. With Luxurious accommodations for 12 guests in six cabins along with a crew of 22, the yacht is a showpiece. Specification: The yacht is 37 meters long and is the only first model launched by the Custom Line 124 with gem of nautical eye to detail.

The yacht can reach a top speed of 27 knots (preliminary data) with the largest MTU engine, 3510hp. The lounge area He owns Custom Line 124 yacht Morning Glory yacht Former Italian Prime Minister owns almost every luxury a person can imagine. Apart from owning a stunning Ferretti Custom super yacht he also owns a Morning Glory. Feature: The Morning Glory the 148-ft. Perini Navi sailing super yacht built in 1993 and the ex PM this yacht form Rupert Murdoch. Perini Navi was the naval architect firm involved in the formal vessel plans for this yacht. The beautiful yacht was was actually launched to tribute in Viareggio and following sea trials and finishing touches was afterwards delivered to the yacht owner. Accommodation: The huge yacht can accommodate at least 10 passengers luxuriously at a time. The rooms are decked up in wood and marble fireplace and the interior is finished in a modern and masculine nautical style with tons of wood paneling.

Specification: The yacht is powered by 12V 183 TE62 engine installed in the sailing yacht is produced by MTU and the engine of the ship produces 750 horse power. Interior of the yacht Berlusconi to sell AC Milan to Chinese investors Berlusconi to sell AC Milan to Chinese investors Murad Ahmed in London and James Fontanella-Khan in New York Wednesday, 6 Jul 2016 | 1:32 AM ET Financial Times Wednesday, 6 Jul 2016 | 7:00 AM ET | 00:41 AC Milan are set to be the latest top-tier European football team to move into Chinese ownership after long-time owner Silvio Berlusconi said he had sold the club. The former Italian prime minister and media magnate told local newspapers on Tuesday that he had sold one of Europe's most successful football clubs, after receiving assurances from the buyers that they would invest significantly to return the club to former glories. Though he did not disclose the identity of those behind the purchase, Mr Berlusconi said: "Milan has now embarked on this path towards China.

"I accepted what was offered to me, that does not even take into account the value of the brand. But I demanded the commitment of the new owners, who are a group of leading Chinese companies, some also state-owned, to pay at least €400m over the next two years." The two sides are still finalising the terms of the agreement, according to one person involved in the talks. The sale comes as Chinese investment in European football has grown rapidly in recent times. Last month, Chinese retail group Suning Holdings paid €270m ($307m) for a 70 per cent stake for Inter Milan . In March, billionaire Wang Jianlin's Dalian Wanda Group agreed a deal with Fifa to sponsor the next four football World Cups for an undisclosed sum. Last year, Wanda acquired a 20 per cent holding in Atlético Madrid football club for €45m. A consortium of Chinese investors paid $400m for a 13 per cent stake in Manchester City in December. The dealmaking has the tacit approval of the Chinese state.

Xi Jinping , China's president and an avowed football fan, has said he wants to make the country a football powerhouse, with the government this year approving a programme that aims to elevate China's national team to among Asia's best by 2030. Claudio Villa | Getty Images Silvio Berlusconi attends a football match between AC Milan and Juventus FC. Mr Berlusconi, 78, bought AC Milan in 1986, when the club was on the verge of bankruptcy and he invested significantly in the squad. The following year, he hired Arrigo Sacchi, the coach who led the club to multiple trophies including back-to-back European Cup victories in 1989 and 1990, and created a team widely regarded as one of the world's best. The sale of AC Milan marks the end of an era for many Italians. Mr Berlusconi's exit comes as the political fortunes of his Forza Italia party have been eclipsed by the rise of Matteo Renzi's ruling centre-left Democratic party and populist groups such as the Five Star Movement and the Northern League.

For decades Mr Berlusconi tied his personal success in business and politics to those of his club, which under his ownership won eight Serie A and five European Champions League titles. More from the Financial Times: Italy clears Silvio Berlusconi in bunga bunga sex case - Telegraph Silvio Berlusconi Italy clears Silvio Berlusconi in bunga bunga sex case Ruling by country's top court means former PM is free to return to politics after lengthy legal saga Former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and Moroccan Karima El Mahroug, nicknamed Ruby the Heartstealer Photo: AFP/Getty Images By AFP 11:27PM GMT 10 Mar 2015 Italy's top court has confirmed the acquittal of Silvio Berlusconi on charges that he paid for sex with an under-age dancer and then abused his position as prime minister to cover it up. After nine hours of deliberations, the judges at the Court of Cassation delivered a ruling that brings to an end a lengthy legal saga centred on the billionaire media tycoon's infamous "bunga bunga" sex parties. It also leaves the 78-year-old free to resume a central role in Italian politics.

Berlusconi has just finished serving a community service order for tax fraud and remains embroiled in several other legal cases. But they are thought unlikely to prevent him from returning to politics and spearheading opposition to Prime Minister Matteo Renzi's plans to transform the way Italy is governed. Tuesday's late night verdict came after a hearing in which a senior prosecutor had described the elderly party-lover as having a "dragon's passion" for teenage girls. Berlusconi was convicted in 2013 of the most serious charges he has faced in a scandal-tainted career, only to be acquitted on appeal a year later. Karima El-Mahroug, an exotic dancer who became a regular at the bunga parties The quashing of his seven-year prison term and a lifetime ban from public office triggered a counter-appeal by prosecutors to the Court of Cassation. After a three and a half hour hearing earlier on Tuesday, the judges spent nine hours considering their eagerly-awaited verdict.

The billionaire businessman whose empire includes the AC Milan soccer club, has always denied paying for sex with a 17-year-old dancer called Karima El-Mahroug who went by the stage name "Ruby the heart stealer." He maintained he only tried to help the Moroccan national when she was later arrested for an alleged theft because he thought she was a niece of the then Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak. The appeal court appeared to accept that argument when it ruled that Berlusconi had not abused his power. The court also ruled that Berlusconi had not committed a crime in having sex with Ruby as he did not know she was under 18, the legal minimum for a prostitute to sell sex in Italy. Prosecutor Edoardo Scardaccione had told Tuesday's hearing that Berlusconi's antics had held Italy up to ridicule. "The Mubarak's niece episode was worthy of a Mel Brooks film," he said. "The whole world was laughing at us behind our backs." Scardaccione also unsuccessfully attempted to convince the judges that Berlusconi and his entourage knew full well that Ruby was only just 17 at the time of their encounter. "He had a dragon's passion for minors," the prosecutor told the court.

Berlusconi was not present at a hearing which analysts had billed as crucial for his ability to reassert control over his fragmenting party. Giovanni Orsina, an academic at the LUISS business school in Rome and an expert on the media magnate's impact on Italian politics, said the distraction of legal battles had helped Renzi emerge as the dominant figure in Italian politics. "Berlusconi's clarity of mind basically disappeared (with the tax conviction)," he argued. "Since then he has been uncertain, unclear and politically ineffective." But with the Ruby case now out of the way, Orsina believes Berlusconi could inflict "real damage" on Renzi's reform agenda. Renzi relied on support from Berlusconi to steer landmark labour reforms through parliament late last year. But their alliance collapsed last month after Renzi successfully backed an actively anti-Berlusconi candidate, Sergio Mattarella, to become Italy's new president. The Forza Italia leader has since vowed to fight proposals to effectively abolish the Senate and adopt a new electoral law designed to produce governments with working parliamentary majorities. Berlusconi's entire political career has been overshadowed by allegations of criminal behaviour and serial court cases: and they are not completely over.

He could yet be convicted on charges that he paid off many of the young women who attended his famous soirees in return for false testimony in the Ruby trial. Also outstanding is a charge that he paid a senator three million euros ($4.0 million) in 2006 to join his party and destabilise a centre-left government. Past experience however suggest the tycoon's lawyers may be able to string out both cases for sufficient time for the charges to be dropped without a judge ever making a ruling. For more stories, like the Telegraph's Facebook page by clicking on the link below Italy's Berlusconi sentenced to jail for tax fraud | Reuters Fri Oct 26, 2012 | 5:35 PM EDT Italy's Berlusconi sentenced to jail for tax fraud By Sara Rossi | MILAN MILAN Former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi was sentenced to four years in jail on Friday for tax fraud in connection with the purchase of broadcasting rights by his Mediaset television company.

The 76-year-old billionaire media magnate, who was convicted three times during the 1990s in the first degree before being cleared by higher courts, has the right to appeal the ruling two more times before the sentence becomes definitive. That process is likely to be lengthy and he will not be jailed unless he loses the final appeal. Even then, because the crime was committed when an amnesty to prevent prison overcrowding was in place, the maximum possible jail time would be one year. The ruling comes two days after Berlusconi confirmed he would not run in next year's elections as the leader of his People of Freedom (PDL) party, ending almost 19 years as the dominant politician of the centre-right. Milan judge Edoardo d'Avossa told a packed court that between 2000 and 2003, there had been "a very significant amount of tax evasion" and "an incredible mechanism of fraud" in place around the buying and selling of broadcast rights. The court's written ruling said Berlusconi showed a "natural capacity for crime".

During a phone call to an evening news broadcast on one of his own channels, Berlusconi said there was no link between his decision pull out of politics and the Friday ruling, and slammed the court for being politically motivated. He called the verdict "political and intolerable," and said it showed Italy had become uncivilized, barbaric and was no longer a democracy. Berlusconi lawyers Piero Longo and Niccolo Ghedini said the ruling was "totally divorced from all judicial logic", adding that they hoped the "atmosphere" at the appeals courts would be different. Berlusconi, one of Italy's richest men, became prime minister for a second time in 2001 after winning a landslide election victory. Even while he was prime minister, he remained in effective charge of Mediaset even though he had handed over control of day-to-day operations, the court said. The four-time prime minister and other Mediaset executives stood accused of inflating the price paid for TV rights via offshore companies controlled by Berlusconi and skimming off part of the money to create illegal slush funds. The investigation focused on television and cinema rights that Berlusconi's holding company Fininvest bought via offshore companies from Hollywood studios.

The court also ordered damages provisionally set at 10 million euros ($13 million) to be paid by Berlusconi and his co-defendants to tax authorities. "POLITICAL HOMICIDE" The flamboyant Berlusconi, who is still on trial in a separate prostitution case, resigned as prime minister a year ago as Italy faced a Greek-style debt crisis, handing the reins of government to economics professor Mario Monti. Angelino Alfano, secretary of the PDL, said the ruling proved once again "judicial persecution" of the media magnate, while political rival Antonio Di Pietro, a former magistrate, hailed the decision, saying "the truth has been exposed". Should the ruling be confirmed on appeal, Berlusconi would also be forbidden from holding public office for five years, and from being a company executive for three years. "This is not a sentence, but an attempt at political homicide," Fabrizio Chicchito, the PDL's chief whip in the Chamber of Deputies, said referring to the ban on holding office.

Now that Berlusconi has said he will pull out of politics, he may be focusing more on his business empire, which includes Mediaset, AC Milan soccer club, and Internet bank Mediolanum. Shares in Mediaset, Italy's biggest private broadcaster, fell as much as 3 percent after the ruling, and are down about 50 percent in the last year. The broadcaster has been struggling against rivals like News Corp's broadcaster Sky Italia and a host of online media, while its core advertising revenues are feeling the pinch of the recession. The court acquitted Mediaset chairman and long-term Berlusconi friend Fedele Confalonieri, for whom prosecutors had sought a sentence of three years and four months. Berlusconi has owned AC Milan since 1986 and the club have been European champions five times under his leadership. But the its fortunes have dipped in the past couple of seasons amid cost cutting, prompting repeated rumors of its possible sale. He also is still on trial in the separate "Rubygate" case in which he is accused of paying for sex with a teenaged nightclub dancer when she was under 18 and thus too young to be paid legally as a prostitute. He denies the charges.

($1 = 0.7716 euros) (Additional reporting by Ilaria Polleschi, Danilo Masoni. Writing by Lisa Jucca and Steve Scherer; Editing by James Mackenzie and Michael Roddy) ADVERTISEMENT Italy's Berlusconi sentenced to jail for tax fraud | World - Geo.tv Italy's Berlusconi sentenced to jail for tax fraud | 0 0 MILAN: Former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi was sentenced to four years in jail on Friday for tax fraud in connection with the purchase of broadcasting rights by his Mediaset television company. The 76-year-old billionaire media magnate, who was convicted three times during the 1990s in the first degree before being cleared by higher courts, has the right to appeal the ruling two more times before the sentence becomes definitive. That process is likely to be lengthy and he will not be jailed unless he loses the final appeal. Even then, because the crime was committed when an amnesty to prevent prison overcrowding was in place, the maximum possible jail time would be one year.

The ruling comes two days after Berlusconi confirmed he would not run in next year's elections as the leader of his People of Freedom (PDL) party, ending almost 19 years as the dominant politician of the centre-right. Milan judge Edoardo d'Avossa told a packed court that between 2000 and 2003, there had been "a very significant amount of tax evasion" and "an incredible mechanism of fraud" in place around the buying and selling of broadcast rights. The court's written ruling said Berlusconi showed a "natural capacity for crime". During a phone call to an evening news broadcast on one of his own channels, Berlusconi said there was no link between his decision pull out of politics and the Friday ruling, and slammed the court for being politically motivated. He called the verdict "political and intolerable," and said it showed Italy had become uncivilized, barbaric and was no longer a democracy. Berlusconi lawyers Piero Longo and Niccolo Ghedini said the ruling was "totally divorced from all judicial logic", adding that they hoped the "atmosphere" at the appeals courts would be different.

Berlusconi, one of Italy's richest men, became prime minister for a second time in 2001 after winning a landslide election victory. Even while he was prime minister, he remained in effective charge of Mediaset even though he had handed over control of day-to-day operations, the court said. The four-time prime minister and other Mediaset executives stood accused of inflating the price paid for TV rights via offshore companies controlled by Berlusconi and skimming off part of the money to create illegal slush funds. The investigation focused on television and cinema rights that Berlusconi's holding company Fininvest bought via offshore companies from Hollywood studios. The court also ordered damages provisionally set at 10 million euros ($13 million) to be paid by Berlusconi and his co-defendants to tax authorities. "POLITICAL HOMICIDE" The flamboyant Berlusconi, who is still on trial in a separate prostitution case, resigned as prime minister a year ago as Italy faced a Greek-style debt crisis, handing the reins of government to economics professor Mario Monti.

Angelino Alfano, secretary of the PDL, said the ruling proved once again "judicial persecution" of the media magnate, while political rival Antonio Di Pietro, a former magistrate, hailed the decision, saying "the truth has been exposed". Should the ruling be confirmed on appeal, Berlusconi would also be forbidden from holding public office for five years, and from being a company executive for three years. "This is not a sentence, but an attempt at political homicide," Fabrizio Chicchito, the PDL's chief whip in the Chamber of Deputies, said referring to the ban on holding office. Now that Berlusconi has said he will pull out of politics, he may be focusing more on his business empire, which includes Mediaset, AC Milan soccer club, and Internet bank Mediolanum. Shares in Mediaset, Italy's biggest private broadcaster, fell as much as 3 percent after the ruling, and are down about 50 percent in the last year. The broadcaster has been struggling against rivals like News Corp's broadcaster Sky Italia and a host of online media, while its core advertising revenues are feeling the pinch of the recession.

The court acquitted Mediaset chairman and long-term Berlusconi friend Fedele Confalonieri, for whom prosecutors had sought a sentence of three years and four months. Berlusconi has owned AC Milan since 1986 and the club have been European champions five times under his leadership. But the its fortunes have dipped in the past couple of seasons amid cost cutting, prompting repeated rumors of its possible sale. He also is still on trial in the separate "Rubygate" case in which he is accused of paying for sex with a teenaged nightclub dancer when she was under 18 and thus too young to be paid legally as a prostitute. He denies the charges. (Reuters) 0 0 Italy's Berlusconi sentenced to jail for tax fraud was posted in world of Geo TV - on October 26, 2012 and was last updated on October 26, 2012. This news story is related to . Permanent link to the news story "Italy's Berlusconi sentenced to jail for tax fraud" is . More From World: In Italy, the Berlusconi show is over - The Washington Post In Italy, the Berlusconi show is over The inside track on Washington politics.

Be the first to know about new stories from PowerPost. Sign up to follow, and we’ll e-mail you free updates as they’re published. You’ll receive free e-mail news updates each time a new story is published. You’re all set! Got it By Alexander Stille By Alexander Stille November 11, 2011 The curtain has closed — for now — on one of the strangest yet longest-lasting shows in the world, the political career of Silvio Berlusconi, who has dominated Italian life for 17 years while playing an astonishing number of roles: TV tycoon, soccer team owner, prime minister, criminal defendant, international playboy. Berlusconi, also a salesman extraordinaire and supreme media illusionist, rose to power conjuring visions of unprecedented prosperity for Italy’s masses. He declared himself the “ best prime minister ” as well as the world’s greatest leader. So it seems fitting that Berlusconi, who promised so much and delivered so little, should now exit stage right, leaving behind a scene of moral and financial devastation with his country verging on default .

The first (but not last) media magnate to run a country, Berlusconi has been dedicated to the principle that perception is reality — that if you make people believe something, it becomes true. But reality has intruded: Years of economic stagnation, of reforms promised and not enacted, a national debt exceeding 120 percent of gross domestic product and, finally, spiraling interest rates have caused the illusion to come crashing down. Perception is crucial to financial markets, but, in the end, it must be tied to some underlying economic facts. And so this political confidence man failed because he lost the trust of the financial markets and Europe’s chancelleries. In the past few years, Berlusconi became synonymous with scandal because of his relentless womanizing , wild parties at the presidential palace, cavorting with paid prostitutes and underage girls, and a string of criminal trials and corruption cases. He made off-color remarks at international gatherings, referring to president-elect Barack Obama as “ suntanned ” and bragging about using his “ playboy ” skills to get concessions from Finland’s president.

All this has made it tempting for foreigners to smile, shake their heads and say, “Only in Italy!” Yet, while Berlusconi is a typical product of a certain side of Italian life, that easy explanation misses something important. He is a retrograde figure, embodying old-fashioned corruption, sexism and machismo. But he is also an entirely modern, or postmodern, political creature. Money, celebrity and pure entertainment value are part of politics everywhere. Operating in a country with few checks and balances, Berlusconi was able to combine the vast wealth of a Bill Gates, the media monopoly of a Rupert Murdoch and the fame of an Arnold Schwarzenegger, mixed with control of the White House and both houses of Congress, to become a 21st-century Citizen Kane. Berlusconi’s extraordinary success came from harnessing an old system of power to new forms of political communication. Since he entered politics, media owners have come to power in two other countries, Thailand and Chile. Chilean President Sebastián Piñera followed the Berlusconi formula almost exactly, heading a TV empire and buying a major stake in a popular soccer club. Berlusconi’s political career began as the Cold War and its reigning ideologies were disappearing.

The Christian Democratic Party and its allies, with the help of the Catholic Church, had governed Italy for 45 years and kept the Communist Party out of power. But with no more communism to fight, this alliance lost much of its rationale, and the corruption that had been tolerated in the name of anti-communism suddenly seemed intolerable. By 1993, the Christian Democrats and their key allies had dissolved, leaving nearly half of the Italian electorate without a political party. Berlusconi filled that void. He offered to protect the patronage relationships of the old system, of which he was a principal beneficiary, but in a new way. Berlusconi understood that Italians were more interested in sports and entertainment than in politics — and he headed the three largest private TV networks and the country’s most successful soccer team, A.C. Milan. He invented a party — and even wrote its anthem — with no real ideology other than a kind of generic patriotism, calling it Forza Italia, the popular chant of the national soccer team. With astonishing boldness, Berlusconi transformed his enormous media and financial empire into the country’s largest political machine. Mutual-fund brokers turned their clients into party organizers, A.C.

Milan soccer clubs became Forza Italia clubs, advertising executives got screen tests and turned into candidates, and his three national networks were his personal platform. He announced his candidacy in 1994 with a video broadcast on his networks that showed him in his study. Using media access that only an incumbent prime minister would usually have, Berlusconi created the illusion that he was already the nation’s leader — and soon that illusion became reality. He modeled himself on both Ronald Reagan, copying his optimism and “government is the problem” rhetoric, and Ross Perot, the entrepreneur anti-politician. When he was questioned sharply by a prominent economist during a TV debate in 1994, Berlusconi cut him off, saying: “Try winning a national soccer championship before you try to challenge me.” It was an absurd non sequitur but convincing to many Italian viewers. After all, Berlusconi had won several national and international championships, hadn’t he? Berlusconi initially sold himself as a free-marketer, an Italian Margaret Thatcher, promising to cut through Italy’s hypertrophic bureaucracy, reduce government interference in the market and revitalize the nation’s economy.

His supporters failed to appreciate that Berlusconi was a monopolist in various industries with markets that were anything but free. His innumerable conflicts of interest were not simply an ethical problem but a practical one. For example, Italy has one of the lowest rates of Internet penetration in Europe; this harms the country’s ability to participate in the information economy but protects Berlusconi’s TV stations. During Berlusconi’s years in office, Italy’s average per capita GDP growth was close to zero and the worst among major industrialized nations. Italy plummeted by almost every international economic and social measure: from economic competitiveness and freedom to transparency, press freedom and gender equality. Berlusconi was reelected in 2008 with a huge majority in Parliament and could have reorganized the Italian economy had he wanted to, but almost all of his energies in office were spent solving personal problems. He got his company executives, who had been indicted for corruption, elected to Parliament so they could enjoy immunity from prosecution, and he did the same for his and their defense lawyers so they could rewrite criminal justice laws and get everyone off the hook. His former executives serving in Parliament wrote legislation for the clear benefit of his business.

He interfered with the state broadcasting company, his chief competitor, hiring and firing network heads and trying (and sometimes succeeding) to shut down TV programs that dared to be critical of him. The lack of any check on his power fed Berlusconi’s sense of omnipotence: He began putting the women he was sleeping with or wanted to sleep with up for political office — the ultimate confusion of public and private power. Berlusconi became a prisoner of his own propaganda machine. He was so good at running for office that he didn’t think it was necessary to actually do anything in office. He liked hobnobbing with world leaders but was bored by the humdrum business of making and enacting policy. What mattered was controlling popular perceptions. He made a great show in 2008 of getting the garbage off the streets of Naples, but, because he failed to deal with the city’s underlying waste problems, the garbage was back within several months. When an earthquake devastated the city of L’Aquila in 2009, he moved with great speed to provide housing and declared the reconstruction a spectacular success.

A year later, the city’s residents, still unable to return to their homes, broke down police barriers around the earthquake zone and discovered that the old city was in ruins ; no reconstruction work had actually been done. Despite his reputation as a tough businessman, Berlusconi has no stomach for confrontation and painful decisions, and he seeks to protect his popularity above all. When the lurid details of his personal life began coming out, he proposed a draconian law that would make it nearly impossible to carry out wiretaps and illegal to publish them except when material was introduced at trial. At the same time, his media companies created a series of personal and sexual scandals for other leaders — using means that would have violated his own law — to distract attention from Berlusconi’s troubles. Again, he seemed convinced that it was all a problem of controlling perception. Until very recently, he blamed Italy’s recession on the country’s economic press, which he said was publishing depressing stories that were keeping people from spending. But as the Italian economy spiraled deeper into crisis, the real facts of the situation interfered. Even in our postmodern world, reality still matters — at least some of the time. Berlusconi, Silvio Berlusconi, Silvio born Sept.

29, 1936, Milan, Italy Italian media tycoon and prime minister in 1994 and again from 2001. After graduating from the University of Milan, he became a real estate developer, amassing a considerable fortune by the 1970s. By the 1990s he owned more than 150 businesses, including three television networks and Italy's largest publishing house. In 1994 he founded Forza Italia, a conservative political party, and was elected prime minister. Faced with conflict of interest and other charges, he resigned in December 1994. He was later convicted of fraud and corruption, though he was acquitted of tax evasion. Despite the convictions and criticism of his control of much of the Italian media, he remained the leader of Forza Italia and again became prime minister in 2001.

* * * ▪ 2002 On June 11, 2001, Italian media magnate Silvio Berlusconi, a tycoon with an estimated fortune of over $10 billion, was sworn in as the country's new prime minister after his centre-right alliance, the House of Freedoms, scored a resounding victory in the May 13 general elections. His installation followed more than six years of leading the opposition. Though Berlusconi was an articulate and dynamic figure, controversy surrounded him; his numerous entanglements with the judiciary were coupled with the seeming incompatibility of his roles as both a leading politician and Italy's most powerful media magnate. Once in office, he pledged swift action to regulate such “potential conflicts of interest.” Following the September 11 attacks, he was quick to offer support to the U.S., but he courted controversy again when in a speech given in Berlin he asserted that Western civilization was superior to the Islamic world. He later said his remarks, which were denounced by European Union and Muslim leaders, were taken out of context. Berlusconi was born on Sept. 29, 1936, in Milan.

As a youth he engaged in moneymaking ventures by putting on puppet shows and then by charging for “ghosting” homework assignments for his classmates. As a law student at the University of Milan, he paid for his tuition by selling vacuum cleaners and by crooning (backed by his own band) on summer cruises. After obtaining a loan from the bank that employed his father, he launched a successful real-estate-development concern in Milan, reportedly with the help of local socialist politicians. The bulk of his fortune, however, was made in television. In 1978 he circumvented a law that guaranteed the national monopoly of RAI, the state TV network, and set up rival TV stations. Then, aided by the socialist government (1983–87) of Bettino Craxi, a friend from university, Berlusconi acquired three national TV channels. They formed the foundation of an empire that soon spanned advertising; the print media; publishing; a supermarket chain; insurance; TV channels in France, Germany, and Spain; and an association football ( soccer ) team—AC Milan. Berlusconi launched into politics in 1993.

Exploiting a gap left by a corruption scandal that wiped out the old political order, he founded the conservative populist Forza Italia (“Go, Italy”) movement to fight off a growing challenge from the left wing. After relinquishing his positions in the Fininvest Group, his giant holding company, Berlusconi led the right-wing Freedom Alliance, headed by Forza Italia, to a landslide election triumph in 1994. His government fell after seven months, however, when a vital coalition ally defected amid charges of corruption in Berlusconi's business empire. Since1994 Berlusconi had been involved in some nine court cases for financial misdeeds ranging from bribing judges to tax evasion. Though proceedings were dropped in four cases, near year's end five cases were still pending, one of them in Spain. Berlusconi, however, rejected all charges, claiming they sprang from a political conspiracy against him by the left wing. Derek Wilson ▪ 1995 Since the end of World War II, Italy had had more than 50 governments and more than its share of colourful and controversial politicians.

In the elections of March 1994, the victory of the coalition led by the Forza Italia party introduced yet another player to the great game of Italian politics—Italy's new prime minister, Silvio Berlusconi. A 58-year-old business tycoon and founder and leader of Forza Italia, Berlusconi brought to the political arena the same skills he had used in building a vast financial empire, portraying himself and his party as an efficient and businesslike alternative to the corruption and cronyism endemic in Italian politics. Many observers pointed out, however, that Berlusconi had benefited from the same system that he promised to reform and suggested that his web of business interests would conflict with his duties as prime minister. Berlusconi was born on Sept. 29, 1936, in Milan. After graduating from the University of Milan, he entered the property-development business, where he took advantage of the booming Milanese real estate market to amass a considerable fortune by the 1970s. Berlusconi soon decided to expand the scope of his business interests.

In 1974 he created Telemilano, a cable television firm, and four years later he mounted the first direct challenge to the national television monopoly. By 1980 he had established Canale 5, the first commercial television network in Italy. He also steadily diversified his business holdings, acquiring department stores, movie theatres, publishing companies, and the AC Milan soccer team. He consolidated his empire under the umbrella of the Fininvest holding company, a vast conglomerate that grew to control more than 150 businesses. In January 1994 Berlusconi turned his talents to politics. Bribery and corruption scandals had devastated the ruling coalition of Christian Democrats and Socialists. Amid popular cries for reform, Berlusconi founded Forza Italia and announced his candidacy for the national legislature. Running on a platform of free enterprise and individual initiative, he inveighed against bureaucracy and governmental interference in private business. To this end he allied himself with the right-wing Northern League and the neo-Fascist National Alliance. In the March 28 elections, this coalition, known as the Freedom Alliance, won a majority of seats in the Chamber of Deputies.

As leader of the majority party of the ruling coalition, he was sworn in as prime minister on May 11. The new prime minister's honeymoon was short-lived, however. Opponents charged Berlusconi with conflicts of interest, and in December magistrates formally questioned him regarding past business practices. Faced with a no-confidence vote, Berlusconi resigned on December 22, although he remained at the head of a caretaker government. ( JOHN H. MATHEWS) * * * ▪ Italian media magnate and prime minister born Sept. 29, 1936, Milan, Italy Italian media tycoon who served three times as prime minister of Italy (1994; 2001–06; 2008– ). After graduating from the University of Milan with a degree in law, Berlusconi became a real-estate developer, amassing a considerable fortune by the 1970s. He created the cable television firm Telemilano in 1974 and four years later mounted the first direct challenge to the national television monopoly.

In 1980 he established Canale 5, Italy's first commercial television network, and by the end of the decade Berlusconi-created stations dominated Italian airwaves. Berlusconi also diversified his business holdings, acquiring department stores, movie theatres, publishing companies, and the AC Milan football team. He consolidated his empire under the umbrella of the Finivest holding company, a vast conglomerate that grew to control more than 150 businesses. In 1994 Berlusconi founded Forza Italia (“Go, Italy!”), a conservative political party, and was elected prime minister. His tenure proved turbulent. Shortly after he took office in May 1994, officials launched a corruption investigation into his business empire, and disputes within the governing coalition culminated in the Lega Nord (Northern League) party's defection in December. Facing a no-confidence vote, Berlusconi announced his resignation on Dec. 22, 1994, but stayed on in a caretaker capacity until January 1995. He was later convicted of fraud and corruption, but the verdicts were eventually overturned.

Despite these charges and criticism of his control of much of the Italian media, he remained the leader of Forza Italia. Promising tax cuts, more jobs, and higher pensions, he led a centre-right coalition to victory in the 2001 national parliamentary elections and again became prime minister. Once in office, Berlusconi faced a number of challenges. He supported the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq ( Iraq War ), and his decision to send troops became increasingly unpopular, especially after an Italian intelligence agent was killed by U.S. forces in 2005 (see Iraq War ). Berlusconi also faced criticism as the country's economy continued to struggle. After his coalition fared poorly in regional elections in 2005, Berlusconi resigned and won a vote of confidence in parliament. He subsequently formed a new government. In April 2006 he ran for reelection, but his coalition was defeated by a centre-left bloc headed by Romano Prodi ( Prodi, Romano ). Berlusconi challenged the results, and an Italian court later upheld Prodi's victory. Berlusconi resigned in May. Less than two years later, however, Prodi stepped down after losing a confidence vote.

In the national elections held in April 2008, Berlusconi—at the helm of a new party known as the People of Freedom (Popolo della Libertà; PdL)—won a third term as prime minister. He and his centre-right cabinet took office in May. Silvio Berlusconi facts, information, pictures | Encyclopedia.com articles about Silvio Berlusconi COPYRIGHT 2004 The Gale Group Inc. Silvio Berlusconi Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi (born 1936) is one of the most controversial leaders in the history of a country known for governmental corruption and vice. Primarily a businessman with massive holdings and influence in international media, he is regarded by many as a political dilettante who gained his high office only through use of his considerable influence on the national media. Hated by many but respected by all at least for his bella figura (personal style) and the sheer force of his will, Berlusconi has parlayed his business acumen and influence into a personal empire that has resulted in Italy's longest–running government ever and in his becoming the country's wealthiest man.

Bursting onto the scene with no political experience in 1993, he campaigned—using his vast network of media holdings—on a promise to purge the notoriously lackadaisical Italian government of corruption. He won appointment to the office of prime minister in 1994. However, he and his fellow Forza Italia Party leaders soon found themselves accused of the very corruption he had vowed to eradicate. Charges of bribery, extortion, and other abuses of power trailed the leader until he was forced to resign later in 1994. Despite convictions on a number of corruption charges that were later overturned, the suave Berlusconi was again elected prime minister in 2001, and remained in that post as of late 2004. He is owner of one of the world's most valuable soccer franchises, the country's biggest private television network, a publishing conglomerate, assorted department stores and insurance companies, a newspaper, a magazine, and a bank. His personal monetary worth is estimated at U.S. $10 billion.

Entrepreneurial Streak Apparent Early On Berlusconi was born on September 29, 1936, in Milan, Italy, the first of two sons of a middle–class bank clerk and a housewife. His precocious interest in business matters was matched by his passion for making money, and even as a boy he was already earning an income by organizing puppet shows for which he would then charge admission. While studying law at the University of Milan, Berlusconi sold vacuum cleaners, worked as a singer on a cruise ship, took portrait photographs, and did other students' homework for a fee. He also formed an important friendship with Bettino Craxi, who would later become Italian prime minister. His graduation thesis from law school was titled, "The Newspaper Advertising Contract." As soon as he left school, Berlusconi began working in real estate because he sensed the development boom that was coming in response to the post–war prosperity of the 1960s.

Declining his father's offer of a job at his bank, the young man managed to put together enough loans to found two real estate and development companies: Cantieri Reuniti Milanesi in 1962 and Edilnord in 1963. Edilnord won the contract for the development of Milano Two, an attractive suburb north of Milan for the upper class, in 1969, and in 1974 Berlusconi entered the world of media when he decided to install a cable television network (through his new Telemilano company) to service the fashionable bedroom community. Edilnord developed the chic Milano 3 suburb in 1976, having become the top developer of residential and commercial properties by that point. Became Media Mogul in 1970s and 1980s Following the Constitutional Court's 1976 ruling that the Radio Televisone Italiana (RAI) conglomerate could no longer extend to the local level its legal monopoly over national broadcasting, Berlusconi launched a massive effort to capitalize on the legitimization of "pirate" television station operators.

He founded a holding company, Fininvest, to manage his expanding portfolio of interests as 700 commercial stations mushroomed virtually overnight. Berlusconi worked quickly to create a major library of films, and then rented them out to the new stations in exchange for their advertising on his new Pubitalia publishing subsidiary. By 1980, he was the dominant force in a skyrocketing television market that over the next five years increased its share of national advertising from 15 to 50 percent. In the meantime, Berlusconi began stringing together a nationwide communications network, Canale Five, in 1977 and completed it in 1980. He created the illusion of a single channel that people could tune into by sending the same film by courier to many of the independent television stations. The pirate stations would then transmit the show simultaneously to their viewers. Unabashedly appealing to the mass market, he stockpiled foreign game shows, soap operas, and popular movies to lure viewers away from the stodgy government–run channels. Berlusconi's position as a media baron was strengthened when the courts reversed their earlier decision and legalized private national networks as long as anti–trust provisions were observed.

He bought out two of his closest competitors in 1982 and 1984, cementing his domination of the country's commercial television market. Meanwhile, the reach of Berlusconi's media empire had extended to commercial television in France, where he created La Cinq in 1986; in Germany, where he founded Telefunf in 1987; and in Spain, where he established Telecinco in 1989. When the courts ruled later in 1984 that Canele Five had usurped RAI's state–sanctioned right to broadcast a national service simultaneously, Berlusconi summoned his old friend Craxi, who had since become prime minister, to reverse the order. Thus benefiting from a general move toward deregulation, Berlusconi was permitted to maintain a virtual duopoly with RAI over the nation's television market. For the remainder of the 1980s, he continued to acquire more and more media holdings. One of Berlusconi's key purchases during this period was of the Milan AC Soccer Club in 1986.

A passionate soccer fan, he poured money into the club until it soon became the most successful Italian soccer team ever. (With him as chairperson, the team has since won the Champion's League title four times, the National League title seven times, and the World Cup Championship twice). He also bought the popular Standa department store chain in 1988 and, after a gigantic legal tussle, the Arnoldo Mondadori Editore S.P.A. magazine, book, and newspaper publishing group in 1990. The latter purchase gave Berlusconi instant control over 20 percent of the Italian publishing market. His relentless acquisitions also exponentially increased Fininvest's debt load to dangerous levels, but Berlusconi had already become a billionaire. Launched Political Career At this point, Berlusconi found himself increasingly hounded by demands from all quarters that he break up his media empire for violating virtually every anti–trust law in the books. As these pressures increased through the first part of the 1990s, he made a decision that some saw as foolish but that others perceived as an effort to grab the power of the very forces opposed to him: he announced that he would run for prime minister.

In typical aggressive fashion, Berlusconi handed over to close friends all his positions at Fininvest and other companies to avoid political conflicts of interest and immediately organized a political coalition named Forza Italia (after the ubiquitous soccer chant meaning "Go Italy"). He appointed himself as its leader. Allying the new grouping with a federalist party and the remains of a disbanded neo–fascist group, he geared up his media companies to begin a television and print blitz to advertise his candidacy. Several editors of his press concerns resigned in protest at being told whom to endorse in the typically free–for–all run–up to elections. Berlosconi pressed on, portraying himself as honest and in touch with the concerns of young Italians while pledging to eradicate corruption, lower taxes, increase personal choice, and promote free–market economics. In 1992, a national poll revealed that Italian teenagers ranked Berlusconi ahead of Jesus Christ and the Italian president when asked about the ten people they admired most. However, disaster struck when the leader of the fascist group praised deceased Italian dictator Benito Mussolini as the century's finest statesman.

It was a testament to the power of Berlusconi's personality that he was quickly able to smooth over the outrage that instantly arose over the comment about the hated leader. Berlusconi held up his lack of political experience as a virtue to voters, telling them that his success as a businessman was excellent preparation for him to transform the bloated, inefficient Italian government into a lean, streamlined machine that would work for the people and provide a fresh start for all, with sweeping tax cuts and millions of new jobs. The media (much of which he ran, of course) quickly dubbed Berlusconi "the Knight." Support for him built rapidly despite virulent attacks by his detractors. The media and Berlusconi's own personal flair prevailed, and the Freedom Pole won 43 percent of the popular vote in March 1994 elections—enough to enable him to form a government of which he was appointed prime minister. However, despite his precautions, allegations of conflicts of interest arose quickly, fueled by the fact that Berlusconi and his family had retained 51 percent of Fininvest's interests.

Coupled with these suspicions, when one of the coalition's parties bailed out of the union, Berlusconi's government collapsed after only nine months in power. In the meantime, his carefully cultivated image as a politician who was above the nation's traditional corruption began to crumble when it was revealed that Berlusconi had in 1978 joined the sinister Propaganda Two group. This was a secret Masonic lodge that had created a powerful state within a state with strong influence on the secret police, banks, the government, and the military. Undaunted by these obstacles, Berlusconi began selling off more and more of his shares in his wide array of holdings, and in 1996—just two days before the April general election—he officially declared that he no longer had a majority control in any business. His past continued to haunt him, however, with further allegations of corruption and misdeeds, and although he succeeded in being elected as a member of Parliament representing his right–wing coalition, he was forced to abandon his bid for the premiership. Appointed Premier Again Despite Lingering Charges As charges of misdeeds continued to pile up, Berlusconi alleged that left–wing politicians had mounted a plot against him.

He was convicted of several financial crimes related to accounting and illegal political funding in 1997 and 1998. He managed to have these overturned on appeal, but those charges were followed by allegations of bribery and other misdeeds in 1999. Nevertheless, he was reelected as a member of the European Union Parliament in 1999 and remained opposition leader in his own country's Parliament until 2001, when he was once again appointed prime minister on May 13. Berlusconi and his House of Freedoms coalition had won the popular vote by 18.5 million votes, propelled once again by his image as a forceful, self–made man who would at last straighten out the Italian government. Nevertheless, plenty of people were outraged by Berlusconi's second rise to power, and in 2002 hundreds of thousands of them staged a massive protest to drive home their point—that his heavy involvement in the world of business made him incapable of being an impartial and fair national leader.

The government was shaken to its core later in 2002 when a mammoth corruption scandal came to light that involved some 6,000 politicians and business leaders, including Berlusconi's brother Paolo and his friend Craxi, and billions of dollars in graft. Meanwhile, Berlusconi himself served as foreign minister in addition to his role as prime minister for ten months in 2002. Berlusconi got a reprieve from the courts in 2003 when Parliament passed a controversial law making the government's top officials, including the prime minister, immune from prosecution. It looked for a while like the legal challenges to his leadership were behind him, but the Constitutional Court soon overturned the law. Meanwhile, Berlusconi's firm decision to stand as an ally with the United States in the war in Iraq had become extremely unpopular, and by 2003, a full 75 percent of Italians were opposed to his decision. In July 2003, Berlusconi assumed the rotating six–month presidency of the European Union, using that position to urge other European countries to support the United States in the war.

By 2004, Berlusconi and his government had enacted numerous bills and laws aimed at reforming the nation's school and labor systems, reduced taxes and other financial burdens on citizens, increased government support of the unemployed, elderly, and disabled, and, not surprisingly, loosened regulations on limits of private ownership of media. However, critics from both Italy and elsewhere warned that Berlusconi's liberal spending could soon have major negative impacts on the country's long–term economic outlook. Nevertheless, the prime minister now had the honor of heading Italy's longest–running government ever. In 2004, Forbes magazine ranked Berlusconi as the 30th wealthiest man in the world, up from 45th in 2002, and estimated his personal fortune at $10 billion. He has been married twice, first to Carla Dall'Ogglio, with whom he had two children, and then to actress Veronica Lario, with whom he has three children. He released a CD in 2003 of Neopolitan love songs.

The prime minister prefers to spend his spare time at his 70–room villa in Sardinia named "Arcore," whose amenities include a private park, a movie theater, and walls of large–screen televisions. Periodicals The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright The Columbia University Press Silvio Berlusconi (bĕr´ləskō´nē), 1936–, Italian business executive and politician, premier (1994; 2001–6, 2008–11) of Italy, b. Milan. His first fortune was made in real estate during the 1960s. In the early 1980s Berlusconi founded commercial television networks that wooed the public away from the more stolid fare offered on government-run channels, and he became a billionaire as head of a media empire embracing television, advertising, film, and publishing as well as an investor in banking and medical biotechnology and owner of the AC Milan soccer team.

Entering politics as a strong advocate of a market-driven economy, he established the conservative Forza Italia party in 1994 and vaulted to prominence, largely through his excoriation of the corruption-tainted established parties and his ready access to publicity. In 1994 parliamentary elections, he was elected as a deputy and his right-wing coalition captured a majority; Berlusconi became premier. By the end of the year, however, his coalition collapsed and he resigned. Subsequently accused of the very corruption he had vowed to expunge, Berlusconi, who alleged a left-wing plot against him, was convicted in 1997 and 1998 of financial crimes. The convictions were later overturned on appeal, but he also faced other bribery and other charges beginning in 1999. In 2001 he was again led a right-wing coalition to an electoral and became premier. In 2003, in an attempt to end his bribery trial, parliament passed a law making the premier (and other top Italian officials) immune from prosecution, but the constitutional court subsequently overturned the law.

The following year he was acquitted of the bribery charges; the other charges were dismissed After losses in local elections in 2005, he resigned and formed a new coalition government. His coalition narrowly lost in the 2006 parliamentary elections. Later in the year Berlusconi was tried on tax and accounting charges relating to his media companies; some of charges were later dropped, but in 2012 he was convicted on tax evasion charges, and the verdict was upheld in 2013. He returned to power in Apr., 2008, when his renamed People of Freedom party, and its coalition partners won control of the parliament. His coalition subsequently passed legislation granting Italy's senior officeholders immunity from prosecution, but Italy's constitutional court overturned the law in 2009. In 2010 parliament passed a law allowing senior government figures to postpone trials against them for 18 months, but in 2011 the constitutional court ruled that a judge should decide whether a trial should be postponed. Subsequently, he faced prosecution or investigation in a number of cases, including one involving alleged underage prostitution (of which he was convicted in 2013; overturned 2014).

Also in 2010, scandals and political divisions threatened to bring down his government. He narrowly survived no-confidence votes in Dec., 2010, and, after being forced to adopt austerities in the face of a financial crisis, in Oct., 2011. A general loss of confidence in his government forced his resignation after an economic reform package was passed in Nov., 2011. He then supported Mario Monti 's techocratic government until Dec., 2012; in the subsequent 2013 elections his coalition placed second and he was elected to the senate. In Mar., 2013, he was convicted of abuse of office in relation to the publication of wiretaps in 2005, but that was overturned a year later because of the statute of limitations. In Apr., 2013, his party became part of the new coalition government. Berlusconi withdrew his party from the coalition in September over his impending ouster (November) from the senate (because of his criminal convictions), but a party revolt forced him to support the government in a confidence vote.

He subsequently withdrew his party from the government, which led to a split in his party, now again named Forza Italia. See studies by P. Ginsburg (2004) and A Stille (2006). Cite this article World Encyclopedia © World Encyclopedia 2005, originally published by Oxford University Press 2005. Berlusconi, Silvio (1936– ) Italian prime minister (1994, 2001– ) and business tycoon. In the 1980s, Berlusconi built a media empire, launching three television stations and acquiring Italy's largest publishing house. In 1986 he bought the AC Milan football team. In 1994 he formed a political party, Forza Italia, and headed a coalition government. Berlusconi resigned amid charges of corruption and nationwide strikes. He lost the ensuing election to Romano Prodi , but regained power in 2001. In 2003, he appeared in court on corruption charges, but the trial was halted after Parliament granted him immunity from prosecution. In 2004, the Constitutional Court threw out the immunity law. Cite this article

Question: 'Media Magnate' Silvio Berlusconi became Italy's Prime Minister, he also owned which Italian football club?
Answer: A.C. MILAN