Media mogul and former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi is being treated for a lung infection in the Milan hospital where he was admitted Wednesday.
The 86-year-old multi-billionaire has battled leukemia for “some time,” according to his personal physician, who says Berlusconi’s latest ailment is related to that blood cancer. One Italian media organization claimed Berlusconi received chemotherapy treatment, though its sourcing is unclear.
Some reports Wednesday said the three-time leader, who now serves in the Italian senate, was admitted to intensive care for a cardiac issue. He was reportedly suffering shortness of breath before being brought to San Raffaele hospital.
The right-wing politician, who’s worth nearly $7.5 billion according to Forbes, had heart surgery in 2016. He was hospitalized for 10 days with COVID-19 in 2020. That landed him in the ICU with pneumonia.
Berlusconi is a hugely controversial figure in Italy. In February, he was found not guilty of witness tampering in a case linked to the infamous “Bunga Bunga” sex parties he threw at his Milan-area villa while serving as Italy’s premier. He was also acquitted of paying an underaged girl for sex in 2010.
Former call girl Patrizia D’Addario wrote about sleeping with Berlusconi in her 2009 memoir. The former prime minister said he wasn’t aware D’Addario was a sex worker, but admitted he’s “no saint,” according to Reuters. D’Addario claimed she and the powerful politico spent the night together in a bed gifted to Berlusconi by Russian leader Vladimir Putin.
The Irish Independent reported in 2011 that Berlusconi allegedly said at a dinner party he’d write about his “(sexual) encounters in a diary” someday.