Silvio Berlusconi–who led three Italian governments in the 1990s and 2000s, was found guilty of fraud and ensnarled in an endless series of scandals, including paying a 17-year-old girl for sex in a conviction later overturned by a higher, friendlier court–is dead at 86.
Born in Milan in 1936 to a middle-class family, Berlusconi began his business career in property development before going on to found Mediaset, Italy's largest commercial broadcaster. He also owned AC Milan football club between 1986 and 2017.Forza Italia was founded in 1993. A year later, Berlusconi was the first prime minister to be elected without previously having held a government office. His second term in office, between 2001 and 2006, was the longest served by any Italian leader since the second world war. He returned to power in 2008 but was forced to resign in 2011 amid an acute debt crisis.Berlusconi was convicted of tax fraud in late 2012, for which he served his year-long sentence doing part-time community service at a residential home in Milan. His ban on running for office was lifted in time for the general elections in 2018, when Forza Italia ran in coalition with the League and Brothers of Italy but fell short of the 40% required to govern.
Italy's current far-right government is very much his legacy.
