ROME: Italy’s ex-prime minister Silvio Berlusconi, who died in June, has left billions of dollars in inheritance to his closest relatives and friends.
German news agency (dpa) reported that his two eldest children Marina and Pier Silvio would benefit the most, according to a will published on Thursday by Italy’s ANSA news agency.
The two children from Berlusconi’s first marriage will together hold the majority 53 per cent stake in the holding company Fininvest. The firm is the main shareholder in MediaForEuropa (MFE), which used to be called Mediaset and is also the majority shareholder of German TV broadcaster ProSiebenSat.1.
In addition, Marina and Pier Silvio now have control over the various villas, properties and other holdings of their father, who died at the age of 86.
The three children from his second marriage – Barbara, Eleonara and Luigi – each receive compulsory shares in Fininvest.
Berlusconi also bequeathed €100 million (US$109 million) each to his last partner, the 33-year-old parliamentarian Marta Fascina, and his brother Paolo.
Marcello dell’Utri, a long-time confidant, receives €30 million.
He had once studied with Berlusconi, co-founded his party Forza Italia in 1993 and was later sentenced to prison for various offences. Some of these sentences were overturned by higher courts. However, he also had to spend several years in prison because of mafia connections. – BERNAMA-dpa
