Ex-Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi dies at 86

Silvio Berlusconi, the flamboyant media mogul whose reign as Italy's longest-serving postwar prime minister was plagued by sex scandals and allegations of corruption, has died. He was 86.

Berlusconi was hospitalised in Milan on Friday just three weeks after being released from a previous treatment. He had a history of heart ailments, including a malfunctioning valve that surgeons replaced in 2016, and was hospitalised for a lung infection in 2020 after contracting Covid-19.

The former premier died on Monday morning, Alessandro Cattaneo, deputy coordinator of Berlusconi's Forza Italia party, said on the RaiNews24 television channel.


Berlusconi was one of the most influential figures in Italian politics of the last three decades. He built a television empire in the 1980s before deploying his showmanship and talent for catchy sound bites to win three national elections.

He served more than nine years as prime minister, leading four different cabinets, an unprecedented tenure in a country plagued by revolving-door governments. He also played kingmaker in bringing center-right coalitions to power, even when his party was no longer the dominant force.