Berlusconi, Silvio (1936– )

Italian entrepreneur and right-of-centre politician, prime minister 1994–95, 2001–06, and from 2008. One of Italy's wealthiest men, he built up an extremely profitable business empire, Fininvest, which included ownership of three of the country's seven television channels and several leading newspapers. He moved into politics in 1994 when the conventional parties had been weakened by an ‘Operation Clean Hands’ drive against corruption and he set up the Milan-based Forza Italia party which won power, after the spring 1994 general election, as part of a right-wing coalition. Voters were attracted by the ‘can-do’ attitude and populist charisma which gave him the nickname Il Cavaliere (the Cavalier). He was forced to resign in January 1995, after allegations of corruption in his business dealings, and received a 16-month prison sentence for bribery in December 1995. However he returned to power in June 2001, heading another right-wing coalition, and supported the US-led war against Iraq in 2003 and tax simplification. Dogged by further financial scandals, he lost power in May 2006, but became prime minister for a third time in May 2008, heading a centre-right coalition.

Berlusconi rapidly established himself as one of Italy's leading entrepreneurs, moving from housing development in Milan into radio and television, films, and cinemas. In both 1994 and 2001, he was elected in alliance with the Northern League, who seek to separate the prosperous north of Italy from the poorer south, and National Alliance, successors to Benito Mussolini's fascist party. His 1994 administration soon ran into difficulties over an alleged conflict of interest between his business concerns and political responsibilities, an issue that was raised again within days of his re-election in 2001.

Berlusconi acquired one of the country's most successful football teams, AC Milan, in 1986 and Italy's largest department store, La Standa, in 1988. In April 1996, Berlusconi led (unsuccessfully) the centre-right Freedom Pole coalition in the general election. In February 1998, he was cleared of tax-evasion, and in June 2000, was cleared of bribing judges in 1985 to fix the sale of a state-owned food group. In October 2001, Italy's final appeals court cleared Berlusconi of any involvement in the bribing of tax inspectors dealing with three companies in his Fininvest group. However, the court found several Fininvest managers guilty for their role in the bribery.