The controversial and colorful former prime minister of Italy, Silvio Berlusconi, passed on at the age of 86 on June 12, VOA news reports. The perpetually tanned billionaire media magnate was being treated for leukemia. ALSO READ: REFLECTIONS : Silvio Berlusconi’s world of gaffes! Berlusconi began building his fortune as a real estate developer and then moved on to create a highly successful television network. At one point, he was known as Italy’s richest man. He then moved into politics, an arena which scholars say he Americanized. ALSO READ: Berlusconi announces return to active politics The right-wing politician served as prime minister in four governments beginning in 1994. Berlusconi faced a host of political scandals during his political foray. He was known for his bunga bunga sex parties with prostitutes and at one point faced charges of paying for sex with a teenage belly dancer. He was acquitted of those charges. ALSO READ: Berlusconi associates guilty of procuring prostitutes The scandals did not stop him from building a lasting political legacy, however. “He is the man who unified the Italian right,” Roberto D’Alimonte, a political-science professor at Luiss university in Rome told The Financial Times, “He made it acceptable and competitive.”
