His children were not present at the notary in Milan when Silvio Berlusconi’s will was opened, they followed this act online. Lawyers represented her in the office when her father’s last will was read. He died on June 12 at the age of 86, and since then the whole of Italy has been wondering how the inheritance will be distributed.
It’s not a small one. There is the political estate of the founder of the Forza Italia party and multiple head of government, which was fought over while he was still alive. But that’s not what the opening of the will was about, it was more about the legacy of the highly successful construction and media entrepreneur. The magazine estimated the family fortune forbes this year to at least seven billion euros, and the amount of the estate is said to be four billion.
Who would he consider how the companies under the umbrella of the Fininvest holding distribute? He had choices, Berlusconi was successful as a father in that he leaves behind five children from two marriages, of whom he was always very proud. And then there is the last mate he married not officially, but in a symbolic celebration in March last year. The two have been a couple since 2020, and the 53-year age difference between Berlusconi and the now 33-year-old Marta Fascina is said to have played no role.
The oldest children inherit the Fininvest Group
On Thursday, the media in Italy were finally able to report what the patriarch had decreed. When it comes to business, there are no surprises. His two eldest children from his first marriage jointly receive the available 53 percent ownership interest in Fininvest Group. In addition to media companies, banks, insurance companies and last but not least the football club AC Monza are also included. Marina Berlusconi, 56, has been running the financial holding company since 2005 and is a powerful entrepreneur. She was not yet 30 when her father entrusted her with the vice presidency of Fininvest, and she also heads the large publishing group Mondadori. Her brother Pier Silvio, 54, has been in charge of Mediaset’s television business since 2015.
As early as 2006, Berlusconi is said to have decided how to proceed with the business. According to the Ansa news agency, he wrote it down in eleven economical lines on straw-colored notepaper. Next to the distribution of Fininvest it says: “I leave everything else in equal parts to my five children Marina, Pier Silvio, Barbara, Eleonora and Luigi.” Other exclusive properties include the Villa San Martino in Arcore near Milan, where Berlusconi lived, the huge summer residence Certosa in Sardinia, which was valued at 460 million two years ago, or the castle-like Villa Campari on Lake Maggiore.
Berlusconi’s younger brother Paolo, who works in the company, receives 100 million as a souvenir. Silvio Berlusconi added legacies to the will for those who “loved me and I loved her”, generous ones. They were recorded in black ink in a letter to the children: 30 million euros for 81-year-old Marcello dell’Utri, Berlusconi’s ancient companion. He built up the party with him, was a member of parliament and a senator. But he is best known as a middleman for the Sicilian Cosa Nostra: exchanging money for votes was probably just one of his jobs. Dell’Utri was sentenced to seven years in prison for mafia ties.
Berlusconi’s family at the funeral service in Milan Cathedral (from left): son Pier Silvio, daughter Barbara (wearing sunglasses), partner Marta Fascina (from behind), brother Paolo, daughters Eleonora (with hat) and Marina, son Luigi.
(Photo: Claudio Furlan/AP)
Of course, Berlusconi hasn’t forgotten Marta Fascina either. The very blond woman from Calabria was at the side of the seriously ill patient in the hospital for weeks. At the huge funeral service in Milan Cathedral, she was seen sobbing and demonstratively close to her children. Fascina, MP for Forza Italia, is also being treated as a possible key figure in Berlusconi’s political legacy. 100 million euros in real inheritance should give her a certain freedom of choice as to whether she accepts the party-political estate.
In the letter, the patriarch greeted his children, whom he asks to stick to the legacies: “Thank you, with much love for you all, your papa.” That should touch all those in Italy who tend to forget that Silvio Berlusconi wasn’t just a friendly, generous person.