Businessman first, tycoon later and Italian Prime Minister for three terms, although Silvio Berlusconi was able to evade justice on many occasions, his power was not absolute. Upon his end, one of the issues that arouse the most morbidity and not only in Italy is how much his fortune amounts to, what assets his real estate includes and in what percentage each of his heirs will benefit. Berlusconi leaves behind five children (Marina, Pier Silvio, Bárbara, Eleonora and Luigi), a brother and 17 grandchildren, in addition to his last partner, 53 years younger and to whom he was not married. At the moment, we know that Forbes calculates a fortune of 6,300 million euros.
The eldest children are Marina (1966) and Pier Silvio (1969), born from his marriage to Carla Elvira Lucia Dall’Oglio, they have been in charge of the two main companies founded by their father for some time: she, in Fininvest and Mondadori and he , in Mediaset. The other three, Bárbara (1984), Eleonora (1986) and Luigi (1988) were born from his second marriage, to Verónica Lario. Berlusconi owned 61% of Fininvest, head of the holding company with a net worth of 4.9 billion. If that mass of shares were distributed equally among the five children, the three youngest – who already own 21.4% – would be the new owners of the crown jewel of the family empire.
Since 1975 and as the majority shareholder, Fininvest manages the profits generated by the rest of the companies (Mediaset, Mondadori, Mediolanum, etc.) and distributes the dividends. It also owns real estate assets, control of the Alba jet and helicopter company, the Monza club and the Manzoni Theater. Marta Fascina, a 32-year-old Calabrian and her last partner, never married the tycoon but he always considered her as a wife, so knowing what she left him is the most morbid thread in this Gordian knot.
Much more complex to distribute will be its imposing real estate assets, particularly the large villas. His main residence was Villa San Martino, in his native Arcore and measuring 3,500 m2, which he bought in the 1970s. Also very close to Milan are Villa Gernetto, in Lesmo, and Villa Belvedere, in Macherio. We also have Villa Campari, on Lake Maggiore, Villa Zefirelli (Rome) and Due Palme (Lampedusa). Let’s add the holiday villas in Cannes, two properties on the Caribbean island of Antigua and, above all, Villa Certosa on the Costa Smeralda (Sardinia), a huge monster with 68 rooms and 4,000 m2 built on an 80-hectare estate and for which someone from the United Arab Emirates offered him 450 million in 2009. Finally, land in Olbia and Brianza, dozens of properties between Rome and the Milan area, and 116 parking spaces. He also owned three yachts.
Lastly, football: he sold A.C. Milan to Chinese investors in June 2017 for 583 million euros and the following year it took over Monza, very close to Árcore.
