Silvio Berlusconi, Italy’s right-wing protagonist and tycoon who never went to prison

Silvio Berlusconi it was three times Prime Minister of Italybut his immense power ever since had not exclusively political roots Il Cavaliereas he was called until 2014, was a magnate of a business and media empire.

Born in Milan on September 29, 1936, the same city where he died. In his 86 years of life, he became a central figure in Italian politics, dominating it with his “undemocratic populism(in the words of historian Paul Ginsborg) and the support from a large part of society. He also founded and chaired media seta media conglomerate that controls Spain’s Telecinco arm and once owned two football teams, AC Milan And Monza.

Before he became the richest man in Italy according to Forbes, he founded the local television channel Telemilano in the 1970s, from which he subsequently established a nationwide media network. The path of acquisitions, sales and new openings of television media and written press ended at Mediaset (formerly Fininvest), with its international branches. During his political period, with control over public and private radio and television, he was the owner and lord of Italian public opinion.

He was Prime Minister of the Government of the Republic between 1994 and 1995, in coalition with other parties seeking to fight institutional corruption; between 2001 and 2007, during two consecutive terms, and between 2008 and 2011, after the dissolution of Forza Italia and the presidency of El Pueblo de la Libertad. He resigned in 2011, after approving the economic reforms imposed by the European Union and after he Forza Italy to a second life, he was elected senator in the last elections, in 2022. His party led Giorgia Meloni to the coalition government.

His political and business career has been surrounded by controversies that, rather than remaining in media anecdotes, have cost him several large-scale legal convictions. In Rubygate, he was tried for paying for sexual services to a minor. Although he was initially convicted of underage prostitution and abuse of power, he was acquitted thereafter. He was sentenced to four years in prison in the Mediaset case tax fraud, although he only completed one year of social work, after a court order. In 2015, he was again sentenced to three years for bribing a senator, though he did not go to prison as the crime dictated.

His liberal policies pushed for a major privatization plan in the Mediterranean country to “increase state revenues” as he proposed for the 2018 election. His proposal lost to Matteo Salvini’s far right, with whom he later agreed to support Meloni.

Il Cavaliere he ceased to be a knight shortly after he left the Council of Ministers, after being convicted of tax fraud. An undisputed protagonist of Italy’s 21st century leaves who, even after being accused of mafia connections, never set foot in prison.