Italy's former prime minister controls Fininvest, a Milan-based investment company. The closely held business has stakes in Italian broadcaster Mediaset, publisher Arnoldo Mondadori, cancer treatment company Molecular Medicine and Banca Mediolanum. Fininvest reported revenue of 4.4 billion euros ($4.9 billion) in 2018.
Silvio Berlusconi's net worth of $8.31B can buy ...
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Berlusconi's fortune is derived from Fininvest, a closely held Milan-based investment entity whose companies had revenue of 4.4 billion euros ($4.9 billion) in 2018, according to the company's website. He owns 62.5% of the company, and his five children each control roughly 7.5% of the company, according to company filings. Berlusconi is credited with full ownership of Fininvest in this analysis to reflect his status as founder.
Fininvest owns 43.7% of broadcast company Mediaset, 53% of publishing house Mondadori, 30% of Banca Mediolanum, 23% of biotechnology business Molecular Medicine and 2% of investment bank Mediobanca, all of which are publicly traded.
The value of his cash investments is based on an analysis of dividends, insider transactions, taxes and market performance.
Berlusconi was born in Milan, the first of three children, in 1936. His father, Luigi, was a bank employee and his mother a housewife. He attended secondary school at Salesian, and graduated from the University of Milan with a degree in advertising in 1961. He performed as a crooner on cruise ships and, in college, formed a group with pianist Fedele Confalonieri, who is now chairman of the billionaire's broadcast holding, Mediaset.
Berlusconi began his business career in real estate in the late 1960s, his largest project being the construction of Milano Due, a 4,000-unit residential apartment complex east of Milan. He sold out of the venture in the early 1970s, and used the profits to invest in his first media venture, Telemilano, a cable television channel that served one of his smaller housing developments.
He formed Fininvest, his first media holding company in 1978. He had created Italy's first national private network, the first to compete with the state-owned national network, RAI, which at the time held a statutory monopoly, two years later. He had expanded the network with the acquisitions of the channels Italia 1 and Rete 4 and, in October 1984, with the help of a political ally, Bettino Craxi, won the legal right for restricted national transmission. The channels received the status of full national TV channels, which included the right to broadcast news and political commentary, in 1990. He began diversifying his holdings through Fininvest, building a portfolio that includes interests in publishing, insurance, medical technology and banking. In 1986, he acquired the A.C. Milan soccer team, saving it from bankruptcy.
As head of the conservative Forza Italia party, he became prime minister for the first time in 1994. He served has the country's leader three times since then. He resigned during the European debt crisis, in 2011. The next year, while at the helm of the center-right Il Popolo della Liberta party, he criticized Italy's austerity measures and is leading a conservative attempt to reclaim power.
Berlusconi has been accused of having mafia ties during the early stages of his career. He was later criticized for comments he made as Italy's prime minister in 2001 that were derogatory toward Muslims, and faced charges that he paid for sex with a minor during parties in his Sardinia estate's "Bunga Bunga" room. He denies the accusations, which he has said are politically motivated, according to a May 13, 2013 Bloomberg News report. He was convicted for tax fraud in 2012.
Berlusconi, who has been married twice, lives in Milan. Fininvest is led by his oldest daughter, Marina. He does not have an active management role.