Although he was acquitted for the crime of prostitution of a minor, he was prosecuted for bribing the witnesses in that case, most of them models and prostitutes, trials that damaged his image.
power, money and sex
Born on September 29, 1936, the son of a bank employee, cruise entertainer in his youth and a law graduate, the origin of his enormous fortune has sparked all kinds of speculation and remains uncertain.
There was even talk of the possibility that it came from loans made by the Sicilian mafia.
With his private television channels, dotted with programs featuring beautiful almost naked women, he conquered the general public.
He also amassed millions with the real estate and financial sectors until he reached politics, seducing viewers and votes at the same time, although he did not manage to fulfill his greatest dream: that of becoming president of the Republic.
With the Fininvest holding company, which had three television channels, several newspapers as well as the Mondadori publishing house, he accumulated more power and his empire spread internationally.
He was the precursor of a style of millionaire politician that has been repeated worldwide, which ignores and disregards ethical and moral principles.
The tycoon never gave up his businesses and companies, generating a debate on conflict of interest, but in November 2011 he had to give up the reins of an Italy plunged into a serious financial crisis.
Decorated as “Knight of Labour” (‘Cavaliere del Lavoro’) at the age of 41, he lost the title after the final sentence in 2013 to four years in prison for tax fraud at his Mediaset company and for this reason expelled from the Senate after twenty years continued presence in parliament.
The father of five children from two marriages and several times a grandfather, Silvio Berlusconi leaves no political heirs, but many financial ones, after distributing his immense patrimony.