Former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi is dead

Former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi is dead

According to Italian Media, Berlusconi 86, diead at San Raffaele Hospital in Milan where he was undergoing treatment.

Last Friday AP reported that Berlusconi was readmitted to a Milan hospital for planned medical checks.

In April, Berlusconi who bounced back from sex scandals and corruption allegations was treated for a lung infection linked to a previously undisclosed case of chronic leukaemia.

The flamboyant billionaire media tycoon first came to office in 1994 and led four governments until 2011.

He led the centre-right Forza Italia party which went into coalition under Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni after elections in September, when he was elected to Italy's upper house, the Senate.

Doctors at San Raffaele earlier had told reporters that the former PM had been suffering from a rare form of blood cancer, chronic myelomonocyte leukaemia.

So far, there has been no official confirmation of the immediate cause of death. He has had repeated health problems since contracting Covid-19 in 2020.

Born in 1936 in Milan, Berlusconi began his career selling vacuum cleaners, before setting up a construction company.

He went on to become one of Italy's richest men, making his fortune through his TV channels.

He gained international recognition as the owner of legendary football club AC Milan - which he saved from bankruptcy in 1986 - before going into politics.