Silvio Berlusconi Prime Minister of Italy, media mogul Date of Birth: 29.09.1936 Country: Italy

1. Early Life and Career
2. Success in Television
3. Expansion and Political Career
4. Legal Issues and Return to Power

Early Life and Career

Silvio Berlusconi was born in Milan on September 29, 1936. His father, Luigi, was a bank employee, and his mother was named Rossella Bossi. After completing high school in 1955, he enrolled in the University of Milan's Faculty of Applied Law, which he graduated from with honors in 1961, earning the opportunity to write a research paper on advertising. Berlusconi began his business career in the construction industry, which remained his main occupation for 20 years.

Success in Television

In the late 1970s, as the volume of broadcasts increased on the local television network TeleMilano, Silvio Berlusconi realized that Italy was ready for national-scale commercial television and focused all his energy on this new and exciting field of work. In 1980, he founded Canale 5 - the first national commercial television network in Italy, which immediately gained popularity among viewers. He later created two more channels: Italia 1 (which began broadcasting from Rascalino in 1982) and Retequatro (which began broadcasting from Mondadori in 1984). The key factors in his success in this venture were the establishment of Pubitalia'80, a company specializing in creating informational advertising, and the creation of programming schedules with the selection of the most popular TV shows. The television commercial business received a new boost in its development with the creation of the TV review Sorrisi e Calzoni TV, which quickly became one of the most popular magazines with a circulation of over 2 million copies. This strengthened Berlusconi's position in the world of newspaper and magazine publishing, based on his ownership of a controlling stake in Il Giornale, a national daily newspaper published by Indro Montanelli, one of Italy's most famous journalists. In the late 1980s, his interest in publishing culminated in the establishment of Italy's leading publishing house, Mondadori.

Expansion and Political Career

The success of commercial television in Italy allowed Silvio Berlusconi to expand into several other business areas in the 1980s, which were consolidated under the Fininvest holding company (founded in 1978). This included the creation of the commercial television channel La Chinq in France, which began broadcasting in 1986, and the creation of TV channels in Germany (Telefunt, 1987) and Spain (Telechinco, 1989). As a result of this rapid growth, by the early 1990s, Fininvest became the second-largest private company in Italy (employing about 40,000 people) and the largest media group not only in Italy but also in Europe.

In 1986, Silvio Berlusconi became the president of A.C. Milan - one of the most well-known football clubs in Italy. In early 1994, he decided to leave the business world and enter politics. On January 26 of the same year, he stepped down from his position at Fininvest and created a new political movement, Forza Italia. In the elections held on March 27, the new movement garnered the most votes, and the coalition of parties gathered around the Il Polo della liberta movement secured an absolute majority in parliament. Subsequently, the President of the Republic entrusted Berlusconi with forming a government, which was approved by Parliament in May 1994. At all levels, from national to family, it was recognized that the government led by Silvio Berlusconi achieved important results.

Legal Issues and Return to Power

In 1999-2000, Berlusconi appeared several times before the Italian court on charges of economic crimes, including tax evasion and bribery, but was fully acquitted. In 2001, Silvio Berlusconi returned to the position of Prime Minister of Italy. He is married and raises five children.