Former Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi, who died at the age of 86 on Monday, had a net worth of $7.56 billion and was the world’s 303rd-wealthiest person, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
However, business magazine Forbes estimated his personal wealth to be worth $6.9 billion. He shares his fortune with his five children.
Berlusconi first appeared on the political scene in 1993, running for prime minister under his newly formed political party Forza Italia.
He served more than nine years as prime minister between 1994 and 2011, Bloomberg said.
He became a billionaire for the first time in 1988, according to estimates by Forbes.
One of the most influential figures in Italian politics in the past three decades, Berlusconi was born in 1936 in Milan.
After graduating from law school in 1961, he became a door-to-door salesman and then a cruise-ship entertainer.
The property industry brought him his first successes in the early 1960s. A decade later, he started Italy’s first private TV network. This eventually became Mediaset, the nation’s biggest private broadcaster, which later evolved into MFE.
Italy’s longest-serving prime minister also invested in publishing, buying the country’s main publisher Mondadori in 1990, and in cinema with the production company Medusa.
He invested in Mediolanum Bank and football, owning AC Milan for 31 years, before selling his stake to Chinese investors in June 2017 for $630 million, according to Forbes.
In 2018 he became the owner of Serie A side Monza.
Berlusconi's investments were grouped under the umbrella group, Fininvest.
The Milan-based family holding company, led by his eldest daughter Marina, reported revenue of €3.8 billion ($4.4 billion) for the 2021 calendar year and has more than 15,000 employees, its website says.
Berlusconi was at the centre of a series of investigations and trials, almost all of them opened after he entered politics in 1994. In all, he faced 35 criminal court cases but clocked up only one conviction.
The three-time prime minister was convicted of tax fraud in 2014 and was initially banned from running for political office until 2019.
But an Italian court lifted the ban in May 2018, and Berlusconi won a seat in the European Parliament the following year, Forbes reported.
He had been suffering from leukaemia and was recently treated for a lung infection.
Berlusconi had suffered ill health for years, having heart surgery in 2016 and being admitted to hospital for Covid in 2020. He had also suffered from prostate cancer.
Specs
Engine: 51.5kW electric motor
Range: 400km
Power: 134bhp
Torque: 175Nm
Price: From Dh98,800
Available: Now
Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere
Director: Scott Cooper
Starring: Jeremy Allen White, Odessa Young, Jeremy Strong
Rating: 4/5
Veil (Object Lessons)
Rafia Zakaria
Bloomsbury Academic
Dubai works towards better air quality by 2021
Dubai is on a mission to record good air quality for 90 per cent of the year – up from 86 per cent annually today – by 2021.
The municipality plans to have seven mobile air-monitoring stations by 2020 to capture more accurate data in hourly and daily trends of pollution.
These will be on the Palm Jumeirah, Al Qusais, Muhaisnah, Rashidiyah, Al Wasl, Al Quoz and Dubai Investment Park.
“It will allow real-time responding for emergency cases,” said Khaldoon Al Daraji, first environment safety officer at the municipality.
“We’re in a good position except for the cases that are out of our hands, such as sandstorms.
“Sandstorms are our main concern because the UAE is just a receiver.
“The hotspots are Iran, Saudi Arabia and southern Iraq, but we’re working hard with the region to reduce the cycle of sandstorm generation.”
Mr Al Daraji said monitoring as it stood covered 47 per cent of Dubai.
There are 12 fixed stations in the emirate, but Dubai also receives information from monitors belonging to other entities.
“There are 25 stations in total,” Mr Al Daraji said.
“We added new technology and equipment used for the first time for the detection of heavy metals.
“A hundred parameters can be detected but we want to expand it to make sure that the data captured can allow a baseline study in some areas to ensure they are well positioned.”
Key products and UAE prices
iPhone XS
With a 5.8-inch screen, it will be an advance version of the iPhone X. It will be dual sim and comes with better battery life, a faster processor and better camera. A new gold colour will be available.
Price: Dh4,229
iPhone XS Max
It is expected to be a grander version of the iPhone X with a 6.5-inch screen; an inch bigger than the screen of the iPhone 8 Plus.
Price: Dh4,649
iPhone XR
A low-cost version of the iPhone X with a 6.1-inch screen, it is expected to attract mass attention. According to industry experts, it is likely to have aluminium edges instead of stainless steel.
Price: Dh3,179
Apple Watch Series 4
More comprehensive health device with edge-to-edge displays that are more than 30 per cent bigger than displays on current models.
Indoor cricket in a nutshell
Indoor Cricket World Cup – Sep 16-20, Insportz, Dubai
16 Indoor cricket matches are 16 overs per side
8 There are eight players per team
9 There have been nine Indoor Cricket World Cups for men. Australia have won every one.
5 Five runs are deducted from the score when a wickets falls
4 Batsmen bat in pairs, facing four overs per partnership
Scoring In indoor cricket, runs are scored by way of both physical and bonus runs. Physical runs are scored by both batsmen completing a run from one crease to the other. Bonus runs are scored when the ball hits a net in different zones, but only when at least one physical run is score.
Zones
A Front net, behind the striker and wicketkeeper: 0 runs
B Side nets, between the striker and halfway down the pitch: 1 run
C Side nets between halfway and the bowlers end: 2 runs
D Back net: 4 runs on the bounce, 6 runs on the full
Expo details
Expo 2020 Dubai will be the first World Expo to be held in the Middle East, Africa and South Asia
The world fair will run for six months from October 20, 2020 to April 10, 2021.
It is expected to attract 25 million visits
Some 70 per cent visitors are projected to come from outside the UAE, the largest proportion of international visitors in the 167-year history of World Expos.
More than 30,000 volunteers are required for Expo 2020
The site covers a total of 4.38 sqkm, including a 2 sqkm gated area
It is located adjacent to Al Maktoum International Airport in Dubai South
The specs
Engine: 1.5-litre turbo
Power: 181hp
Torque: 230Nm
Transmission: 6-speed automatic
Starting price: Dh79,000
On sale: Now
