Silvio Berlusconi, controversial Italian ex-prime minister, dead at 86, his media company says

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Former Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi has died at the age of 86, his former TV network reported Monday.

"Berlusconi is dead," Mediaset declared on its homepage Monday.

The billionaire media mogul, businessman and iconic Italian politician who was caught up in multiple high-profile scandals leaves behind five children.

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Berlusconi was hospitalized on Friday for the second time in months for treatment of chronic leukemia. 

Silvio Berlusconi at the Chamber of Deputies during the consultation for the formation of a new government in Rome. (Livio Anticoli/Pool/Insidefoto/Mondadori Portfolio via Getty Images)

Berlusconi, who in 2006 reportedly referred to himself as the "Jesus Christ of politics," served as the Italian premier for a total of nine years across four governments.

He was the longest-serving Italian leader since the country became a republic in 1946.

Berlusconi began his meteoric political rise after founding the center-right Forza Italia party in 1994 and immediately gaining a relative majority.

He was elected as Prime Minister of Italy in 1994, but was forced to step down in December of the same year amid fraud and corruption investigations that ended in convictions — however, those convictions were eventually overturned.

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Maintaining leadership of Forza Italia in the coming years, Berlusconi mounted a successful campaign to bring his party back into leadership and became Prime Minister once again in 2001.

Silvio Berlusconi is mobbed by press as he leaves a reunion to decide the group leaders of at the Lower Chamber, in Rome. (Cecilia Fabiano/LaPresse via AP)

Following Forza Italia's decline in popularity, Berlusconi formed a new government in 2005, but lost his bid for re-election in 2006.

Heading a new party — Popolo della Libertà — he once again rose to the premiership in 2008. He held the position for a turbulent three years as he experienced drastic upticks and declines in popularity.

He resigned after passing promised budget reforms in 2011.

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In 2013, Italy's high court upheld a conviction for tax fraud, but his sentence was reduced to a mere one-year — it was the first conviction against Berlusconi that stuck.

ROME, ITALY - MAY 11:  Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and President of the Italian Republic Oscar Luigi Scalfaro attend the inauguration of the first government of Berlusconi at the Quirinale on May 11, 1994 in Rome, Italy.   ((Photo by Franco Origlia/Getty Images))

In November of the same year, Berlusconi was expelled from the Italian Senate and hit with a six-year ban on holding public office.

As the ban elapsed in 2019, Berlusconi immediately campaigned and successfully secured a seat representing Italy in the European Parliament, which he held until his death.

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The iconic Italian politician remains highly controversial in his home country and abroad.

Around 2010, Berlusconi became embroiled in a sex scandal surrounding so-called "bunga bunga" sex parties at his villa.

He was accused of having sex with an underage prostitute and using his political influence to silence accusations. 

Silvio Berlusconi, leader of Forza Italia Party, casts his vote during the Lombardy regional elections in Milan, Italy earlier this year. (Piero Cruciatti/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

The Italian statesman denied all charges and claimed he was being set up by political enemies. The alleged underage victim also denied having sex with Berlusconi.

The years-long scandal ultimately came to an end in 2023 after he was found not guilty in the final trial of the affair, which concerned allegations of witness tampering in prior court proceedings.

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Berlusconi has battled ill health for years, suffering from a compromised heart and previously overcoming prostate cancer.

In 2020, Berlusconi contracted a COVID-19 infection that threatened his life. He was hospitalized for 10 days and told the press it was one of the most dangerous health issues he had ever faced.

The Italian entrepreneur Silvio Berlusconi. April 15 1977.  (Edoardo Fornaciari/Getty Images)

The former premier received a check-up from his personal physician in San Raffele just last month during a multi-day visit.

He returned home and on March31 thanked his supporters who had reached out in support.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.