how the balance changes in the family and in Fininvest. Bequests to Fascina and Dell’Utri-Corriere.it

The future of Fininvest was written on a sheet of paper on 2 October 2006. Silvio Berlusconi had just turned 70. I leave it available in equal parts to my children Marina and Pier Silvio. The future of Marta Fascina instead in a letter from 17 years later, written on Villa San Martino headed paper. The letter dated January 19, 2022: I’m going to San Raffaele, reads a sheet delivered by Marta Fascina to the notary Arrigo Roveda who published it as a holographic will. The Knight addresses his children: Cara Marina, Pier Silvio, Barbara and Eleonora (forgetting the younger Luigi). Silvio Berlusconi has donated one hundred million to his partner for the last three years of his life. The founder of Fininvest also wanted to remember his brother Paolo to whom he left the same amount. And he thought of his assistant and lifelong friend Marcello Dell’Utri to whom 30 million go. To all, for the good I loved them and for what they wanted me. a total amount of 230 million that the heirs will have to pay as a donation from the inheritance of all my assets. Silvio Berlusconi had already advanced to Paolo on several occasions, with the extraordinary generosity that has always distinguished him, his intention to leave the sum of 100 million euros, Paolo Berlusconi said.

The structure of Fininvest

The immediate fallout of the last will is that a third of the assets, precisely the available share, goes exclusively to his first two children. Thus Marina and Pier Silvio rise to the absolute majority (53% overall divided into equal shares) of the Fininvest group. How did they get there? With the legit they had risen to 33% while the three brothers to 47%. The father who had 61% left the remaining third, i.e. about 20%, only to the two sons already operating in the group. And so now with 53% they govern autonomously, guaranteeing that continuity of management which had in any case already been set up, and shared, in the past. So much so that for many years the presidency has been entrusted to Marina Berlusconi. And never questioned by the younger siblings Barbara, Eleonora and Luigi, children of Veronica Lario. Therefore, they, who already divided 21.87% equally, receive only the legitimate part, i.e. an additional 24.99%, which brings the three brothers’ stake to 47% of Fininvest. On the basis of the 60/40 distribution of the inheritance – that is, of the percentages of assets transferred on one side to Marina and Pier Silvio and on the other to the children of the second marriage – the heirs will take charge of the donations decided by Silvio Berlusconi for Marta Fascina , Marcello Dell’Utri and Paolo Berlusconi. In this perspective, 138 million will be borne by the two largest.

Style

What surprises in Silvio Berlusconi’s last wishes is simplicity and synthesis. Few words were used to convey to the second generation a complex reality – with a total net worth of 4.5 billion – made up of large listed companies such as Mfe-Mediaset and Mondadori, as well as the stake in Banca Mediolanum. Without forgetting Monza Calcio that the entrepreneur has grown up to the top flight. Nothing to do with the impetuous rhythm used by Bernardo Caprotti, the founder of Esselunga who died in 2016, who had designed the future scenarios of his group. Or that of Leonardo Del Vecchio where the entrepreneur had recalled the stages of the growth of his empire. Silvio Berlusconi’s style is dry, as if everything were taken for granted because it has already been established for some time. In fact, he leaves the management of Fininvest with its strategic activities, including TV and publishing, to his older children. Marina and Pier Silvio in both ordinary and extraordinary shareholders’ meetings have armored control, therefore without the need to find qualified majorities in the governance of the company. Barbara & c has a sizeable minority left to collect the dividends that good management can bring. This year 100 million to be divided by five.

Family balances

Are they happy with that? There is great harmony in the family and the will to manage a very delicate phase together, said the lawyer Carlo Rimini, an expert in inheritance law and who assists Barbara, Eleonora and Luigi Berlusconi. It is not true that there is an array of fronts – clarified the lawyer -. There are professionals who lend a hand to a cohesive family to solve problems. On the other hand, the three young men had immediately taken different paths compared to Marina and Pier Silvio. In 2005, the founder decided to open the capital to young people, who at the time were little more than teenagers (only Barbara was 21 years old), by transferring ownership of a Fininvest share to them. A year later the Knight had already written the first will with the indication to leave the available to the majors. Luigi and Barbara were reconfirmed at the end of June on the board of Fininvest in which they have the role of shareholders. Their activities are concentrated in the H14 holding company which invests in small and medium-sized technology companies for a living and is owned with equal shares by all three. Now all five appear even more united, aware that the moment is delicate and Berlusconi’s latest wishes need to be put into practice and squared with the complexity of the group and the procedure, bearing in mind that an executor has not been appointed.

The next steps

Moreover, the hereditary perimeter must be well delimited: it is necessary to map all the assets that are not registered, current accounts, securities accounts, policies, personal investments. And also on the other side, any debts to be paid. A large part of Berlusconi’s assets is known, while what is more personal and confidential will have to be detected and evaluated in order to be distributed in the quotas envisaged by the succession. But also the absence of rigid governance stakes in the Fininvest statute seems to indicate that the coexistence among all family members based on trust. The founder has not built corporate scaffolding or introduced statutory rules that raise barriers or impose bottlenecks. The statute of Fininvest could be that of any small provincial family business. It is useless to introduce blocks of shares, qualified majorities, series A and B shares. And, indeed, there is not even an internal pre-emption right in case a shareholder wants to sell. Simply the hypothesis not contemplated. the same simplicity underlies the last wishes of the Knight who does not rely on the principles of the forum and legal conundrum to dictate step by step, comma su comma all that will have to be done with the assets he has raised in 60 years. A few words, however, to reiterate what he had already made clear by entrusting Marina and Pier Silvio not only with Fininvest, but also with his very personal four Italian Holdings: Prima, Seconda Quarta and Ottava. That is, the attic floor of the empire, the guardians of 61% of the group. It will be them, the almost contemporary children of Fininvest, who will lead the holding. How will they make it their problem. The Knight in his terse lines has not given any indication, has not set up any cordon sanitaire. It’s as if he said: now make do.

Come on Italy

In the summary of the will there is not even a line about Forza Italia. But perhaps this argument too is part of that unwritten testament that Berlusconi left, relying on words, handshakes, personal trust. Which was also a characteristic trait of the entrepreneur. The fact remains that today the party owes 90 million to the family. Now the technical chapter of the management of the inheritance procedure opens. Times won’t be short but at the moment there is no sign of friction between the heirs. On the contrary, the messages are marked by unity and collaboration. Fininvest has just approved the 2022 budget and therefore there are no corporate appointments with the new structure on the horizon. The board of directors was confirmed, as was the role of president of Marina Berlusconi. The group closed 2022 with 3.8 billion in revenues and a consolidated net profit of 200.2 million. In the last three years, the holding has distributed total dividends of 350 million.

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