Former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi left €100 million ($109 million) to his partner Marta Fascina, in a sign of the close relationship built up between the young lawmaker and the tycoon-turned-politician near the end of his life.
The bequest to the 33-year-old Fascina was revealed when the will of Berlusconi, who died last month, was made public Thursday. The will’s stipulations also include the ex-premier’s plan to broadly pass his business empire over to his oldest heirs, according to a copy of the document seen by Bloomberg.
Berlusconi, who died at the age of 86 after a long illness, also left €100 million to his brother Paolo. The ex-premier additionally left €30 million to Marcello Dell’Utri, a close political and business adviser who was once convicted of links with organized crime.
Fascina, a lawmaker for Berlusconi’s Forza Italia party, was in a relationship with the ex-prime minister for about three years and remained by his side during his final months.
Though a reserved figure who tends to shun the media, Fascina is expected to have a significant say over the future of the party, which faces a transformational phase with the death of its founder.
Berlusconi, who wed and divorced twice, never formally married Fascina, but the two celebrated a non-religious, unofficial ceremony to celebrate their union in 2022.
“Thank you, much love to all of you,” Berlusconi wrote to his heirs, as part of his last will and testament.