He was nicknamed “the immortal” for his longevity in politics. Silvio Berlusconi, the media magnate who ruled Italy for nine years, died at the age of 86 from leukemia, his entourage told AFP.
The senator and businessman, who has had a profound impact on the political landscape of his country, was again admitted to San Raffaele hospital in Milan on Friday, where he has stayed multiple times.
chronic leukemia
On April 5, the billionaire had already been hospitalized for six weeks in this prestigious establishment to treat a state of weakness linked to a lung infection, but his doctors had revealed that he suffered from chronic leukemia.
He had addressed his supporters for the first time in early May, in a video message, from his hospital room, seated behind a desk with the party banner and the Italian flag behind him.
One of the richest men on the peninsula with a fortune valued by Forbes at 6.4 billion euros, Silvio Berlusconi has been hospitalized several times in recent years.
In January 2022, he had stayed at the San Raffaele to treat a urinary tract infection. The previous April, he had also been hospitalized for more than three weeks for “sequelae of Covid-19” which he had contracted in September 2020.
He had undergone major open-heart surgery in 2016, then an operation to treat an intestinal obstruction in the spring of 2019. In 1997, he had been operated on for a malignant tumor in the prostate.
Many scandals
Prime minister three times between 1994 and 2011, he was a senator and president of his right-wing party, Forza Italia, a minor partner in the coalition government of far-right Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.
Football fan Silvio Berlusconi chaired AC Milan for 31 years, which won the Champions League five times under his era, before selling in 2017 to Chinese investors. He was also the owner of the Monza club.
His career has also been marred by scandals and legal issues, which over the past decade have focused on proceedings related to his infamous “Bunga Bunga” sex parties.