The late mediazampano and Italian ex-government leader Silvio Berlusconi leave behind a huge economic empire – now, shortly before the will is opened, one wonders how the billion dollar fortune will be divided.
It is especially unclear how the television business of the family holding company Fininvest, in which Berlusconi last owned 61 percent, will continue. His five children from two marriages already have equal shares in the holding company. Observers now anxiously await how shares in the family business will be redistributed in Berlusconi’s will.
Two children already head the investment company
If the father’s 60 percent share is simply divided by five, the three younger children from the marriage to actress Veronica Lario would have the absolute majority of the capital. However, this solution would contradict the fact that years ago Berlusconi appointed Marina and Pier Silvio, his children from his first marriage, as heads of the main investment companies.
Exclusive properties change hands
In addition to the television business, the Mondadori publishing house and the AC Monza football club, Berlusconi’s empire also includes several properties, including his legendary 18th-century residence in Arcore near Milan, where the media entrepreneur has lived since 1974, and a dreamy villa on the Costa Smeralda on Sardinia, where Berlusconi once invited Russian President Vladimir Putin and other international celebrities. Real estate has always been a successful sector in Berlusconi’s business empire.
Holding wants to continue doing business in “absolute continuity”.
Holding Fininvest said in a press release that Berlusconi’s legacy will remain the basis of all activities “which will continue with absolute continuity in all respects”. The eldest son Pier Silvio is in control of the TV business. The television group Mediaset, which he directs, has had to deal with a sharp drop in turnover in recent years due to fierce competition from internet platforms such as Netflix.
TV group focuses on local content
Pier Silvio Berlusconi is therefore trying to transform the company from a conventional broadcaster to a media platform. With the company MFE, which has its head office in Amsterdam, he wants to form a group of national television channels that will focus on the production of local content. This mainly concerns the Spanish market. The Berlusconi family has also set its sights on the German-speaking market – it already owns a 30 percent stake in the German television company ProSiebenSat.1.
Television group Mediaset said goodbye to its founder in grand style on Wednesday. A full-page advertisement of the Milanese media group appeared in various newspapers. “The whole of Mediaset embraces its founder Silvio Berlusconi with love and gratitude,” it says.
Does “symbolic wife” also get a share?
Another open question is whether Berlusconi’s partner, 33-year-old parliamentarian Marta Fascina, will also receive a share of the fortune. Berlusconi had celebrated a “symbolic wedding” with the southern Italian a year ago in March, but apparently for reasons of inheritance, he has not officially sealed the marriage.
Source: Krone
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