Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi is a self-made billionaire with a winning smile and a self-declared penchant for voluptuous young women.
“Generous and fatherly” to girls who attend his parties and “unwell and in need of help” according to his estranged wife, Berlusconi has been mired in a string of sex and corruption scandals since coming to power in the early 1990s.
The outspoken media and construction industry tycoon burst onto the political scene to win elections in 1994 and his populist style assured him the adoration of part of the Italian public. However, he is loathed by others and has been dogged by scandals and a series of embarrassing international gaffes.
His political nous — and, his critics would say, his control of Italy’s three main private television channels — have allowed Berlusconi to survive the rough and tumble of Italian politics for 17 years.
Born in Milan in 1936, Berlusconi spent brief stints as a vacuum cleaner salesman and cruise-ship singer before embarking on a career in the booming construction business by making a deal with the head of his father’s bank.
The mystery surrounding the source of funding for his ambitious garden city project has led critics to accuse him of links with organized crime.
In 1978, Berlusconi set up Fininvest, a holding company that grew to include several major household names, including Mediaset — with three national television channels — and soccer club AC Milan.
Italy’s wealthiest person between 1996 and 2008, Berlusconi splashed his wealth around, giving 562,000 euros (US$801,000) to 14 young women in one year alone, according to one probe.
His first stint as prime minister in 1994 lasted only a few months.
However, in 2001 Berlusconi won elections again after a media campaign that included sending a booklet boasting the entrepreneurial and sporting achievements of the “family man” to 15 million homes.
He remained in power until 2006 and he was voted back in for a third time in 2008.
The prime minister likes to play up his Latin-lover persona, which has seen him caught out before in compromising relationships with young blond temptresses — causing his wife, Veronica Lario, to file for divorce.
However, the latest rumors of raunchy sex parties were heralded by some as sordid enough to upseat Berlusconi for good.
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