Silvio Berlusconi: The unknowns on who will inherit the magnate’s $6.5 billion empire

Italy says goodbye to former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi with a show worthy of the great soap opera of a lifetime.

The one-time singer on a cruise ship who governed Italy with no prior political experience built a media empire and had a string of wives and girlfriends.

The Archbishop of Milan conducts Berlusconi’s state funeral in the city’s great cathedral on Wednesdays.

Italy is celebrating a day of national mourning.

All Italian and European flags on public buildings are flown at half-mast.

This kind of tribute it is unprecedented for a former prime minister.

A state funeral is a privilege generally reserved for popes, war heroes and ministering ministers.

Milan is a city closely associated with Silvio Berlusconi: here he was born and started his career as a vacuum cleaner salesman.

Large screens have been placed on the central square, so that the thousands of people who come to say their last goodbyes can follow the ceremony.

Succession

But behind the scenes, a true succession story.

During his lifetime, Berlusconi amassed a vast empire spanning the media, real estate, finance, cinema and sports, as well as a powerful political party that is part of Italy’s current government.

He was one of the richest men in Italy.

According to Forbes, the assets of his company is worth about $6.5 billion.

But he has never stated publicly who would run his business empire after his death and there are also big questions about the future of the Forza Italia party he founded himself.

Berlusconi has two children from his first marriage and three from his second. They all have shares in Fininvest, their holding company.

The future of your business interests will likely depend on it how you chose to divide the 61% interest you had in Fininvest.

Will there be equal shares for everyone, or more for the two eldest children, Marina and Pier Silvio?, who have held management positions in the empire since the early 1990s?

Other valuable assets are undoubtedly Berlusconi’s many luxury villas.

It can be difficult to pass them on to their descendants in an equitable manner.

Your Villa San Martino in Arcore, northeast of Milan, it covers 3,500 m2 and dates back to the 18th century.

He also has homes on Lake Maggiore, in Rome, in Cannes, the Caribbean and elsewhere..

The jewel in Berlusconi’s ownership crown is Villa Certosaa country house in Sardinia that he bought in the 1970s.

There he received world leaders, from Vladimir Putin to George W. Bush.

It has 126 rooms and looks like a theme park, including a fake volcano erupting lava.

Its worth is estimated at $280 million.

who joined the family

People close to the family describe Berlusconi as “the glue” that held his children together.

The big question is whether that family unit can be preserved now that Berlusconi is gone and what impact that could have on the future of his business empire.

So far, there have been no disputes over who will take over the empire.

It is expected to fall on his eldest daughter, Marina, 56 years oldconsidered the closest of the five to her father.

political life

But his death could spell disaster for the future of his political party.

Can Forza Italia survive without its charismatic creator or fall apart in a few months?

He was the ultimate populist leader and it is not surprising that the party he founded was built entirely around his personality.

His right-hand man, Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, has categorically denied that his future is at stake: “It is unthinkable that the party will disappear.”

In the general elections last September Forza Italia lowered their votes to 8%.

Many Italians who supported the party did so because they were loyal to Berlusconi and it will be difficult to name a successor they like.

In fact party members probably they will go to the Berlusconi family to make a decision.

Will the two eldest, Marina and Pier Silvio, continue to invest in their father’s political creation, or will they turn off the financial tap and limit their losses?

Without your financial support Forza Italia has no chance of survival.

Berlusconi heavily funded and reportedly injected his party more than 100 million dollars.

There is speculation that Marina could succeed him as leader, but for now it remains a rumor.

She is seen more as an operator behind the scenes.

His pair

Another unknown is what Berlusconi’s last pair were, Marta Fascina, 53 years his junior.

A member of her party, she has said several times that “her passion is politics and she grew up with the myth of Silvio Berlusconi.”

Berlusconi’s eldest daughter reportedly blocked his plan marry her last year.

So a cloud hangs over Fascina’s future role in the leader’s farewell.

One thing is certain: if Forza Italia breaks, it would be a big problem for the other members of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s coalition government.

Political instability threatens Wednesday after the day of national mourning.

In a country so well known for its regular political crises, a collapse of the government due to the breakup of one of the coalition partners does not seem such an unlikely scenario.

Until now, Berlusconi’s children have avoided the spotlight.

But his death could force them to do so Come out of the shadows to take the reins of your empire.

Berlusconi had been struggling with health problems for years, so he and his children probably thought about all this.

They could choose an easy transition heralded by their older sister, Marina, instead of getting into a succession battle that could go wrong.