He polarized the nation, stumbled from scandal to scandal, and amid the constant turmoil, people almost forgot that he was governing a country.
Today, June 12, 2026, marks the third anniversary of the death of Silvio Berlusconi. The former Italian prime minister died in Milan on June 12, 2023, at the age of 86. Few European politicians of the past several decades have shaped, polarized, and transformed their country as profoundly as he did. Berlusconi was a media tycoon, billionaire, football club owner, populist, head of government and one of the most controversial figures in modern Italian history.
The Media Mogul With An Insatiable Appetite For Power
Silvio Berlusconi was born in Milan on September 29, 1936. Long before entering politics, he built a vast business empire. He first made his fortune in real estate before expanding into television, creating Mediaset, a media powerhouse that helped shape Italian public life for decades.
According to Britannica, Berlusconi controlled more than 150 companies during the 1990s, including three television networks and Italy’s largest publishing house.
But his career was never just about business. Berlusconi understood early on that power in modern Italy was built through images, entertainment, and public attention. As owner of AC Milan, he also became a major figure in the world of football.
Under his leadership, the club won domestic and international titles and became a global symbol of Italian football excellence. For many Italians, Berlusconi was not merely a politician. He embodied television, sports, wealth, and success all at once.
Politics And The Media Circus
In 1994, Berlusconi founded the political party Forza Italia and almost immediately rose to the top of Italian politics. His message was simple but effective: he presented himself as a successful businessman who could run Italy the way he ran a company. In doing so, he introduced a new style of politics to Europe—more personal, more media-driven, more populist, and heavily centered around his own brand.
He served as Italy’s prime minister in 1994, from 2001 to 2006, and again from 2008 to 2011. Following his death, Reuters described him as a media mogul and political showman who left a lasting mark on Italian politics through scandals, spectacle, and a sharp instinct for power.
Yet Berlusconi was never a conventional conservative politician. In many ways, he was a precursor to modern populists. He positioned himself against elites despite being a billionaire himself. He attacked judges and journalists despite wielding enormous media influence.
He spoke directly, courted controversy deliberately, and often turned politics into questions of personal loyalty. That combination made him relatable to supporters and deeply troubling to critics.
His years in office were defined by tax policy, legal battles, economic promises, and carefully crafted international image-building. At the same time, his political legacy remained fiercely contested. Critics accused him of failing to modernize Italy structurally, ignoring conflicts of interest, and weakening public institutions. Supporters, meanwhile, saw a leader who brought optimism, stability, and entrepreneurial thinking to a frequently gridlocked political system.
Bunga Bunga And Tabloid Scandals
Berlusconi’s name is inseparable from controversy. For decades, he faced an almost constant stream of legal challenges. Reuters reported in 2023 that despite numerous investigations and trials, Berlusconi received only one final criminal conviction. In 2013, he was found guilty of tax fraud connected to his media empire, a conviction that temporarily barred him from holding public office.
Even more deeply etched into public memory were the infamous “Bunga Bunga” parties. The scandal centered on gatherings at Berlusconi’s villa involving young women, allegations of abuse of power, and accusations that he had paid for sex with an underage girl.
Berlusconi was acquitted in the most prominent case, though subsequent proceedings involved allegations of witness tampering. In February 2023, he was acquitted in one such case. In 2024, however, Italy’s highest court partially overturned the acquittals of several co-defendants and ordered a new appeals trial regarding bribery allegations. Berlusconi himself had already passed away by that point.
These scandals went far beyond tabloid headlines. They raised broader questions about power, attitudes toward women, accountability, and political culture. Berlusconi often responded with mockery, attacks on the judiciary, or claims that he was the victim of political persecution. To his critics, he became the symbol of a system in which wealth, media influence, and political power were dangerously intertwined.
The End Of A Political Survivor
At the same time, Berlusconi proved remarkably resilient. Even after resignations, electoral defeats, court cases, and international criticism, he never completely disappeared from public life. In 2019, he returned to the European Parliament, and in 2022, he was elected to the Italian Senate once again.
Even after his death, Forza Italia remained an important member of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s governing coalition, although many observers had already noted in 2023 how heavily the party depended on Berlusconi’s personal leadership.
His death prompted a mixture of grief, nostalgia, and criticism across Italy. The government declared a national day of mourning and organized a state funeral at Milan Cathedral. For supporters, the tribute was fully justified. They viewed Berlusconi as a man who had shaped Italy, created jobs, and elevated the country’s international profile.
For his opponents, however, the honors were problematic because they risked overshadowing the darker aspects of his career.
Three years after his death, Silvio Berlusconi remains a figure through whom much of modern Italy and even modern Europe can be understood. He demonstrated early how politics would function in the television age: through personality cults, emotional appeals, attacks on opponents, and the constant blending of entertainment and power. Much of what would later be described elsewhere as a new form of populism had already been pioneered by Berlusconi in the 1990s.
His legacy remains deeply contradictory. He modernized political communication while undermining trust in institutions. He built businesses, media networks, and football dynasties, yet became a symbol of problematic conflicts of interest. For millions of Italians, he represented success and ambition. For many others, he stood as proof of how dangerous it can become when economic, media, and political power are concentrated in the hands of a single individual.