Home > Terms > English (EN) > Silvio Berlusconi

Silvio Berlusconi

Silvio Berlusconi may no longer be the Italian prime minister, but his tax evasion, general corruption and sex with an underage prostitute made it a very memorable run. Before entering politics, Berlusconi built his business empire – allegedly with seed funding from the Italian mafia. He made his money first through the construction industry, and then later amassed a huge fortune through buying up Italian media companies and the world famous soccer team A.C. Milan. Berlusconi is currently the 141st richest man in the world, with a fortune of $9 billion USD. He first became the Italian head of state in 1994, but was removed 8 months later in 1995 after Forza Italia's (his political party) alliance with the secessionist party Lega Nord fell apart over allegations Berlusconi was luring MPs to his party with the promise of lucrative deals. He laid low for awhile, and then became prime minister again in 2001. His second tenure ended in 2006, but he was reelected yet again just 2 years later in 2008, where he held office until 2011 before resigning at the height of the Italian debt crisis and various personal scandals. After the completion of his 3rd and final term, Berlusconi was the longest serving prime minister in post-Mussolini Italy. He was subsequently convicted of tax evasion and barred from serving in public office for 6 years, and is serving community service instead of jail time as Italian law prohibits anyone over the age of 70 from being incarcerated.

0
Collect to Blossary

Member comments

You have to log in to post to discussions.

Terms in the News

Billy Morgan

Sports; Snowboarding

The British snowboarder Billy Morgan has landed the sport’s first ever 1800 quadruple cork. The rider, who represented Great Britain in the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, was in Livigno, Italy, when he achieved the man-oeuvre. It involves flipping four times, while body also spins with five complete rotations on a sideways or downward-facing axis. The trick ...

Marzieh Afkham

Broadcasting & receiving; News

Marzieh Afkham, who is the country’s first foreign ministry spokeswoman, will head a mission in east Asia, the state news agency reported. It is not clear to which country she will be posted as her appointment has yet to be announced officially. Afkham will only be the second female ambassador Iran has had. Under the last shah’s rule, Mehrangiz Dolatshahi, a ...

Weekly Packet

Language; Online services; Slang; Internet

Weekly Packet or "Paquete Semanal" as it is known in Cuba is a term used by Cubans to describe the information that is gathered from the internet outside of Cuba and saved onto hard drives to be transported into Cuba itself. Weekly Packets are then sold to Cuban's without internet access, allowing them to obtain information just days - and sometimes hours - after it ...

Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB)

Banking; Investment banking

The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) is an international financial institution established to address the need in Asia for infrastructure development. According to the Asian Development Bank, Asia needs $800 billion each year for roads, ports, power plants or other infrastructure projects before 2020. Originally proposed by China in 2013, a signing ...

Spartan

Online services; Internet

Spartan is the codename given to the new Microsoft Windows 10 browser that will replace Microsoft Windows Internet Explorer. The new browser will be built from the ground up and disregard any code from the IE platform. It has a new rendering engine that is built to be compatible with how the web is written today. The name Spartan is named after the ...

Featured Terms

amysitu
  • 0

    Terms

  • 2

    Blossaries

  • 8

    Followers

Industry/Domain: Sports Category: Unusual sports

ferret legging

An endurance test where contestants put live ferrets in their pants and the winner is the last person to release the animals. Participants are not ...