the puzzle 33% and the decisive share for the Fininvest-Corriere.it structure

The curtain on Silvio Berlusconi’s legacy could rise in a short time, even – according to some sources – in the days immediately following the funeral. And the Fininvest meeting at the end of June for the budget and appointments would therefore arrive with the structures already defined. Confirmed or modified? the main question.

The last wishes

Everything revolves around the last wishes of the former prime minister and a percentage: 33%. In truth, there is no official confirmation that Berlusconi left a will. But more than a hypothesis also because the family is articulatedthe assets to be divided equally and the Knight would have meticulously dosed every move and passage to avert, even remotely, an Agnelli-Elkann scenario.

The will

Therefore, if a will exists, as seems highly probable, perhaps with subsequent updates, Inside are Berlusconi’s wishes on the destination of 33% of the assets. This is the quota available for those who have no spouse but several children (5 in total). This means roughly 1.3 billion of the total 4 billion, calculating shareholdings and real estate. Another matter, they are works of art and unregistered assets that escape classification and evaluation. But that 33% should also include the Fininvest share.

Blocks 32%-46%

Simplifying (the question is decidedly more complex): since the founder held 61% this means that about 40% is automatically assigned to the children (8% each) who are the only other shareholders of the holding company at the head of the group. The result is that Marina and Pier Silvio already have just under 16% each (32% cumulative), while the three children from their second marriage to Veronica Lario (Barbara, Luigi and Eleonora) total 46% and therefore reach the share of relative majority. To give a down-to-earth idea: last year’s dividend was 150 million to be distributed as a percentage of the capital.

The unknown Fascina

So in this breakdown (32%-46%) 20% are decisive for control. And in the management of this package that the Knight may have decided to let into the safe Marta Fascina and, hypothesize other sources, also some historical friends such as Fedele Confalonieri and Adriano Galliani. But these are pure conjectures whose validity can only be verified upon reading the will by the notary. In the history of Fininvest, at least since the trusts that shielded the property were dismantled decades ago, no member outside the Berlusconi family has ever entered the capital.

The previous

There is an indicative precedent. In the summer of 2022, H14, the holding company of the three youngest children, was split in two with a 340 million operation. The demerger transferred a substantial part of the assets to a new company while maintaining the Fininvest share in the old one, which was thus isolated. The goal was (also) to transfer the three external managers in possession of SFP of H14 (participatory financial instruments, a substitute for shares) to the new company and to remove contamination in Fininvest. If therefore the line is that of Berlusconi’s purity then the distribution of 33% will leverage other assets of the consolidated hereditary. And here the villas have a significant weight.

The boat in Forza 5

The question, as we said, is more complex because in reality Silvio Berlusconi’s shareholding in Fininvest is not direct but mediated by four holding companies (H1, H2, H3 and H8) which, however, could be dismantled in the future. In the meantime, the former premier had set up the Forza 5 simple company. This was learned from the 2022 asset declaration in the Senate. 5 like children: a safe in the style of Elkann’s December? No Forza 5 like the sea, Fininvest sources say, and owns a boat.