(Bloomberg) -- The eldest son of late former Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi was tempted to follow in his father’s political footsteps but for now he says he’s committed to his family’s broadcasting business.
“I might like just the idea of getting into politics, but that’s not actually for me,” Pier Silvio Berlusconi said on late Tuesday at an event at the company’s headquarters close to Milan, noting he’s more of a corporate man than a wanna-be politician.
He also revealed that he had already refused when about a decade ago his father asked him to join his center-right Forza Italia party. Pier Silvio also denied that he ever commissioned a survey to sound out his possible political approval rating.
Pier Silvio, 55, is Chief Executive Officer of MFE-MediaForEurope NV, Italy’s largest commercial television best known as Mediaset. The company has recently been focusing on building a pan-European hub for free-to-air televisions. Beyond Italy it also manages operations in Spain and Germany, where MFE is ProSiebenSat.1 Media SE’s largest shareholder.
Last year, Pier Silvio and his sister Marina Berlusconi formally took control of their father’s roughly €7 billion ($7.7 billion) business empire after all the heirs reached an agreement on the late billionaire’s will.
Forza Italia is a junior ally in Premier Giorgia Meloni’s right-wing government coalition, currently led by foreign minister and deputy Premier Antonio Tajani.
“It’s good for Italy to now have a stable government, as that’s positive for citizens as well as for entrepreneurs,” Pier Silvio said.
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