Former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi dies at 86

Billionaire businessman and former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, has died after suffering from illness.

Berlusconi, who was 86, had been suffering from leukemia “for some time” and had recently developed a lung infection. He died on Monday, June 12.

He was hospitalised in 2020 after contracting COVID-19, describing it as “perhaps the most difficult ordeal of my life”.

In April 2023, doctors revealed he was in intensive care suffering from leukaemia and a lung infection.

He was admitted to a Milan hospital on Friday last weem for what aides said were pre-planned tests related to his leukemia.

Berlusconi’s Forza Italia political party was a coalition partner with current Premier Giorgia Meloni, a far-right leader who came to power last year, although he held no position in the government

Before his death, Berlusconi was at the helm of Forza Italia, the center-right party he created when he entered politics in the 1990s. Despite losing his tag as Italy’s richest man in recent years, he still died a billionaire with multiple businesses investments in the media industry.