It is not being an easy week for the Berlusconi family, one of the most media and recognized in Italy. Silvio Berlusconi died this Monday at the age of 86, a death that caught his entire family by surprise, who, despite knowing that the former president suffered from leukemia, did not expect that the end could be so imminent. Since then, one of the most followed faces has been that of Marina Berlusconi, the eldest of the five children of Il Cavaliere. Now she is the oldest in the family and many of her already consider her ‘the matriarch’.
Although Silvio’s state of health was worrying, his departure was not expected to come so soon. The politician and businessman had been in and out of the hospital numerous times in recent months due to his illness, the last one, just a couple of months ago. One day after his death, the main Italian newspapers published a page with a photo and a short text dedicated to the longest-serving head of government in Italy since World War II. “Dad, thank you for life, thank you for love. You will always live within us,” his children expressed.
The one who was president of the Mediaset group was fired by all his loved ones, who soon returned to work. “Starting tomorrow, we will once again be a lively company, full of energy and strength, as its life has been,” said Pier Silvio Berlusconi, his 54-year-old son, unable to contain his emotion, in a speech to the Mediaset workers . The tycoon bequeaths a huge real estate, a television empire and a political party, Forza Italia.
It is his eldest daughter who seems to be taking over from his father’s figure. Now Marina Berlusconi, 56, is the matriarch of the family. For more than two decades she has been in charge of Fininvest, the business conglomerate that controls the main family companies, among others, Mediaset, the audiovisual group that is in the hands of her brother Pier Silvio. Both are sons of Berlusconi and his first wife, Carla Dall’Oglio.
But they are not the only children of Silvio. Before his official separation with his first wife, his relationship with Verónica Lario, an unknown actress with whom he fell in love suddenly, became known. Barbara (39), Eleonora (37) and Luigi (35) were born from this relationship. These last three do not hold executive positions, but they do form part of Fininvest’s board of directors, in addition to controlling an identical share to their older brothers, equivalent to 7.65% of the shareholding.
All eyes are now focused on Marina. Discreet and elegant, she is a lover of cosmetic surgery, and is also a tireless worker. According to Forbes, she is the only Italian woman among the 50 most influential women in the world. Those who have been close to her say that she is a very shy woman. In addition, she does not usually give interviews to the media, and if she does, it is to comment on the future of the family empire.
After several attempts to study Law and Political Science at the university, her father decided that she would study at home and entrusted the young woman’s studies to Fedele Confaloniere, one of his most faithful collaborators. “She is a jackhammer,” he expressed a few years ago.
It was at the age of 25 that she began to attend the first shareholder meetings in her father’s companies, proving to be a young woman eager to learn. There she took notes and hinted that in the future she would be a solid leader of her business. After Silvio’s victory in the 1994 elections, she began her business career. A short time later, she Marina began to take care of the Mondadori publishing house, which currently has almost 1,000 million in its turnover.
As for her sentimental life, in 2008 she married the former dancer of the Teatro della Scala, Maurizio Vanadia, although the two had met seven years earlier, in 2001. As a result of this relationship, their two children were born, Gabriele in 2002 and Silvio in 2004. The presence of the couple was common in some of the most important events in the country, but in recent years it is increasingly difficult to see them in public. If anything characterizes Marina, it is discretion.
There is no certainty of his personal assets that the former president’s eldest daughter can accumulate, but in 2008 Forbes magazine estimated his fortune at 9.4 million dollars. This figure could increase when the last wills of his father are known. A woman who, although she seems shy and discreet, will have to make the next decisions that have to do with the empire that her father leaves behind.
