Former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has died at the age of 86.

The larger-than-life figure, who once compared himself to Jesus, was Italy's longest-serving premier, but he was also beset by scandal. Despite being diagnosed with leukemia, he remained a senator and a collaborator in Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's rightwing administration until the end.

Berlusconi exerted enormous power through his television and newspaper holdings — he basically developed commercial television in Italy — his ownership of the AC Milan football club, and his sheer fortune as Italy's richest person for a decade.

Long before Donald Trump turned his financial success into a White House run, Berlusconi captivated millions of Italians by portraying himself as a self-made man who liked life and spoke his mind, even disparaging fellow leaders.

To his detractors, the right-winger was a tax-dodging jerk who leveraged his massive media empire to further his political career and then used his influence to preserve his commercial interests.

He spent most of his life in legal trouble, and the proceedings involving his infamous "Bunga Bunga" sex parties, which were attended by young ladies and underage escorts, were only resolved in February 2023.

Despite the fact that he was still president of his Forza Italia party, a junior partner in Meloni's coalition, he had virtually disappeared from public view in recent months.

He was suffering from increasing health issues, despite his pride in his looks, always nicely dressed, his slicked-back hair never exhibiting the tiniest touch of grey.

Berlusconi was hospitalized for 11 days in September 2020 after acquiring coronavirus, which he described as "possibly the most difficult ordeal of my life."

Doctors disclosed in April 2023 that he was in intensive care with leukaemia and a lung infection.