Former Italian PM Silvio Berlusconi passed away at age 86, local media reported on Monday.
He died in Milan's San Raffaele hospital, where he was previously treated for chronic leukemia. He was readmitted to the facility on Friday after complaining about lung issues.
Berlusconi served as prime minister of the country three times - from 1994 to 1995, 2001 to 2006, and 2008 to 2011.
However, the leader of the right wing Forza Italia Party is widely regarded as one of the most extravagant figures in the country's political history due to a series of scandals connected to his personal life and financial matters.
Born and brought up in Milan in a middle-class family, Berlusconi began his initial career as a real estate developer before founding Mediaset, Italy's largest media group, comprising television channels and magazines.
At the time of his death, he was Italy's third wealthiest person, with a fortune of $6.8 billion.
After occupying the prime minister's post for a short period from 1994 to 1995, Berlusconi remained out of power for the next six years before his return in 2001.
During his second stint, he served a full tenure, completing his five-year term in office in 2006, the longest uninterrupted period of time a PM has remained in office in Italy's post-WWII history.
Although his Forza Italia-led coalition lost power in the subsequent elections, he was back at the helm of Italy's affairs in 2008 but was made to resign in 2011 following an escalating financial crisis that threw the country's economy into a tailspin.
In 2013, an Italian court convicted him of tax fraud, banning him from running for public office till 2019 and ordering him to do community service for twelve months at his residence in Milan.
The ban, however, was lifted in 2018 ahead of the general elections in Italy. However, Berlusconi's Forza Italia and its coalition partners failed to win the 40 percent vote required to rule the country.
In 2019, the former Italian premier moved to the European Parliament after winning a seat in the Brussels-based body before gaining access to power in his nation in 2022 when Giorgia Meloni's Brothers of Italy won the general elections. Berlusconi's group remains an alliance partner in the present government.