Silvio Berlusconi’s death raises questions about the future of his family-owned empire as the Milan stock market anticipates a sale.
Reactions are pouring in across Italy and globally to the death on Monday of scandal-tainted media mogul and politician Silvio Berlusconi that marks the end of an Italian era and raises questions about the future of his empire which spans from TV, advertising, and sports to real estate and insurance.
Berlusconi, who was 86, died Monday morning at Milan’s San Raffaele hospital from complications of a lung infection due to chronic leukemia. At his bedside where four of his five children Eleonora, Barbara, Marina and Pier Silvio and his brother Paolo.
As former Italian prime minister Matteo Renzi, a political rival and leader of Italy’s centrist Italia Viva party put it: “Silvio Berlusconi made the history of this country. Many loved him, many hated him: everyone must recognize that his impact on our political life, as well as on its economic, sports and television spheres, was unprecedented. Today Italy mourns together with his family, his loved ones, his party.”
Meanwhile, the Milan market wasted no time in reacting to Berlusconi’s passing. Shares in his rebranded MediaForEurope TV empire, formerly known as Mediaset, jumped by as much as 10% shortly after Berlusconi’s death was reported, indicating that Milan traders think this could lead to the company being sold or merged.
