Berlusconi, Italy’s Longest-Serving Leader, Dies at 86

MILAN — Prime Minister Berlusconi, the boastful billionaire media mogul who was Italy’s longest-serving premier despite scandals over his sex-fueled parties and allegations of corruption, died Monday, according to his television network. He was 86.Mediaset announced his death with a smiling photo of the man on its homepage and the headline: “Berlusconi is dead.”Berlusconi was admitted to the San Raffaele Hospital in Milan on Friday, his second hospitalization in months for treatment of chronic leukemia. He also suffered over the years from heart ailments, prostate cancer and was hospitalized for Covid in 2020.A onetime cruise ship crooner, Berlusconi used his television networks and immense wealth to launch his long political career, inspiring both loyalty and loathing.To admirers, the three-time premier was a capable and charismatic statesman who sought to elevate Italy on the world stage. To critics, he was a populist who threatened to undermine democracy by wielding political power as a tool to enrich himself and his businesses.His Forza Italia political party was a coalition partner with Prime Minister Meloni, a rightist leader who came to power last year, although he held no position in the government.His friendship with President Putin put him at odds with Ms. Meloni, a staunch supporter of Ukraine. On his 86th birthday, while the war raged, Mr. Putin sent Berlusconi best wishes and vodka, and the Italian boasted he returned the favor by sending back Italian wine.When President Trump launched his political career, many drew comparisons to Berlusconi, noting they both had long business careers before entering politics, sought to upend the existing order, and grabbed attention for their over-the-top personalities and lavish lifestyles.Ms. Meloni remembered Berlusconi as “above all as a fighter.”“He was a man who had never been afraid to defend his beliefs. And it was exactly that courage and determination that made him one of the most influential men in the history of Italy,” Ms. Meloni said on Italian TV.A former premier, Matteo Renzi, recalled Berlusconi’s divisive legacy on Twitter. “Silvio Berlusconi made history in this country. Many loved him, many hated him. All must recognize that his impact on political life, but also economics, sports and television, has been without precedence.”As Berlusconi aged, some derided his perpetual tan, hair transplants and live-in girlfriends who were decades younger. For many years, however, Berlusconi seemed untouchable despite the personal scandals.Criminal cases were launched but ended in dismissals when statutes of limitations ran out in Italy’s slow-moving justice system, or he was victorious on appeal. Investigations targeted the tycoon’s steamy so-called “bunga bunga” parties involving young women and minors, or his businesses, which included the soccer team AC Milan, the country’s three biggest private TV networks, magazines and a daily newspaper, and advertising and film companies.Only one led to a conviction — a tax fraud case stemming from a sale of movie rights in his business empire. The conviction was upheld in 2013 by Italy’s top criminal court, but he was spared prison because of his age, 76, and was ordered to do community service by assisting Alzheimer’s patients.He still was stripped of his Senate seat and banned from running or holding public office for six years, under anti-corruption laws.He stayed at the helm of Forza Italia, the center-right party he created when he entered politics in the 1990s and named for a soccer cheer, “Let’s go, Italy.” With no groomed successor in sight, voters started to desert it.He eventually held office again — elected to the European Parliament at age 82 and then last year to the Italian Senate.Berlusconi’s party was eclipsed as the dominant force on Italy’s political right: first by the League, led by the populist Matteo Salvini, then by Ms. Meloni’s Brothers of Italy party. Following elections in 2022, Ms. Meloni formed a governing coalition with their help.Berlusconi lost his standing as Italy’s richest man, although his sprawling media holdings and luxury real estate still left him a billionaire several times over.In 2013, guests at one of his parties included an underage Moroccan dancer whom prosecutors alleged had sex with Berlusconi in exchange for cash and jewelry. After a trial spiced by lurid details, a Milan court initially convicted Berlusconi of paying for sex with a minor and using his office to try to cover it up. Both denied having sex with each other, and he was eventually acquitted.The Catholic Church, at times sympathetic to his conservative politics, was scandalized by his antics, and his wife of nearly 20 years divorced him, but Berlusconi was unapologetic, declaring: “I’m no saint.”Berlusconi insisted that voters were impressed by his brashness.“The majority of Italians in their hearts would like to be like me and see themselves in me and in how I behave,” he said in 2009, during his third and final stint as premier.His second term, between 2001 and 2006, was perhaps his golden era, when he became Italy’s longest-serving head of government and boosted its global profile through his friendship withPresident George W. Bush. Bucking widespread sentiment at home and in Europe, Berlusconi backed the American-led war in Iraq.As a businessman who knew the power of images, Berlusconi introduced American.-style political campaigns — with big party conventions and slick advertising — that broke with the gray world of Italian politics, in which voters essentially chose parties and not candidates. His rivals had to adapt.Berlusconi saw himself as Italy’s savior from what he described as the Communist menace — years after the Berlin Wall fell. From the start of his political career in 1994, he portrayed himself as the target of a judiciary he described as full of leftist sympathizers. He always proclaimed his innocence.When the anti-establishment 5-Star Movement gained strength, Berlusconi branded it as a menace worse than Communism.His close friendship with the longtime Socialist leader and former premier, Bettino Craxi, was widely credited for helping him become a media baron. Still, Berlusconi billed himself as a self-made man, saying, “My formula for success is to be found in four words: work, work and work.”He boasted of his libido and entertained friends and world leaders at his villas. At one party, newspapers reported the women were dressed as “little Santas.” At another, photos showed topless women and a naked man lounging poolside.“I love life! I love women!” an unrepentant Berlusconi said in 2010.

Berlusconi, Italy’s Longest-Serving Leader, Dies at 86

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