The late billionaire and the longest-serving prime minister in Italy's history Silvio Berlusconi died last month and left behind a fortune valued at $8.5 billion. That made him one of the 10 richest people in Italy. He died almost a month ago, but details about his will and the way his fortune is being divided among his heirs have only recently been made public, and there are some interesting tidbits among them.
Italian law stipulates two thirds of a wealthy individual's fortune are divided up equally among primary heirs, while the remaining third can be distributed according to the departed's wishes.
As such, it was just revealed that Berlusconi's 33-year-old girlfriend Marta Fascina, who the tycoon reportedly referred to as his "wife" on his deathbed despite their lack of an official marriage, inherits about $109 million. That's the same amount that was left to his younger brother Paolo. And then there's Marcello Dell'Utri, Berlusconi's controversial associate with a mafia conviction in his past. Marcello got a little over $32 million.
Berlusconi cites these bequests as having come from "the love I had for them and the love they had for me," according to the will itself.
MATTEO BAZZI/ANSA/AFP via Getty Images
Dell'Utri, who has always denied the organized crime charges against him, told news agency ANSA that the bequest was an unexpected surprise, and even went into some detail about their long friendship:
"He was like a brother to me. We had known each other for more than 60 years. He always helped me. Even at university, he would share his notes."
Not everyone had as sunny a view of Berlusconi's bequests. Leftist Italian politician, former prosecutor who was also once the mayor of Naples, called them something out of a "soap opera" in a Twitter post. The will might also remind some of the HBO series "Succession," as it carved out pieces of his family business empire Fininvest and divided it among his five children.
Berlusconi's first wife Carla Dall'Oglio and the two Berlusconi children from that marriage, Marina and Pier Silvio Berlusconi, now have a 53% stake in the company, where before their combined stake was less than eight percent.
