«Goodbye, my friend», Confalonieri’s greeting. The role of wise «uncle» between family and company – Corriere.it

«Silvio, Silvio, Silvio!», is the chorus that rises from Piazza Duomo. But «il Silvio is no longer here», «il Fedele» shakes his head in grief. The coffin comes out of the cathedral. Confalonieri is petrified, overwhelmed by emotion. He makes the sign of the cross: «Goodbye, my friend», you understand by reading his lips. At his side is Gianni Letta, who has always been the Knight’s political adviser. Confalonieri is the friend of a lifetime. A brother for Berlusconi, “the uncle” for his two older children: Marina and Pier Silvio.

It’s a heartbreaking farewell, «after a life spent riding alongside him», Confalonieri said some time ago. But fate wanted to keep them tied up until the last moment. Confalonieri, in addition to being president of Mediaset, also leads the Veneranda Fabbrica del Duomo. And in this capacity, despite his close friends describing him as overwhelmed by grief, at the age of 85 he found the strength to participate in the maxi meeting in the prefecture to follow the organization of the state funeral at an operational level, so that all the details were as Berlusconi would have wanted them. And Confalonieri would always have convinced the Cavaliere’s children, who at first would have preferred private funerals, to give the green light to the state funeral, with a sober and solemn ceremony, even keeping ranks directly with the premier Giorgia Meloni.

It is a circle that closes. A story that began as children, in shorts, playing football on the sidewalks of via Volturno, on the Isola, was the popular district of Milan where “il Silvio” and “il Fedele” grew up: “Whoever carried the ball did the teams. Silvio carried the ball». Then the college of the Salesians, in via Copernico, always together. Then, for a few years, they lost sight of each other. In 1973 the business of Confalonieri’s small company wasn’t doing very well: «Silvio called me offering me one million lire a month to be his secretary. He – he said – always wanted to be the centre-forward, but being a midfielder or even just a full-back alongside him was a privilege ». They never left each other: from concerts on cruise ships in the 1950s to the construction of Milano 2. This great adventure seemed to never end. When the future empire of the Alfa Romeo was in danger of collapsing after the sentence that ordered the shutdown of the TV frequencies, fear was strong. And Confalonieri, when asked to remember that moment, replied as follows: «Yes, I was a little worried. But with Berlusconi nothing ever ends. It’s all about starting over.”

But this time it’s really over. And this is Confalonieri’s great pain: in both of his last two hospitalizations at San Raffaele, as well as Marta Fascina, he never failed to see Berlusconi, who had been so close to him over the loss of Annick, the great love of « Faithful», taken away by Covid. When they warn him that the Knight is dying, it’s a breakneck rush to San Raffaele, to say goodbye to him one last time. Then the mass in the family chapel, in Arcore, the tears away from the cameras. Always operational, but always discreet, a step back: in the Duomo it was in the third row. Confalonieri adores all five of Berlusconi’s children, reciprocated. And above all for this, now, it will be up to him to take the place of the wise father, to indicate the right course. According to what has emerged so far, Berlusconi seems to have given precise indications on his succession, an aspect that does not seem to cause great concern in a family from which disagreements have never filtered. However, Confalonieri is the president of Mediaset, and this will be his key role in the coming months. On the Stock Exchange, the stock has been soaring for days, a sign that speculators are betting on a possible sale (or unpacking) of the company. And now «Fedele», with the managing director Pier Silvio, will have to defend Berlusconi’s creature from this assault.

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