Berlusconi children succeed in Dublin court application tied to Italian bank

High Court Reporters

The billionaire children of the late Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi have succeeded in a Dublin High Court application related to their shareholding in an Italian bank.

On Thursday, Judge Mary Rose Gearty gave permission to Silvio’s eldest children, Marina Elvira Berlusconi and Pier Silvio Berlusconi, to bring a late notification to the Central Bank of Ireland relating to their acquisition of a significant shareholding in lender Banca Mediolanum.

Under statutory regulations, notification of such a transaction to the Central Bank of Ireland is required.

Fininvest, a Berlusconi family investment group, is a significant shareholder in Banca Mediolanum.

Mediolanum’s Irish fund management arm is regulated by the Central Bank and responsible for investments worth about €80 billion.

Fininvest, through its investment, operates in the media and entertainment industry, publishing and financial services.

According to a sworn statement filed to the High Court, Marina said her father held majority control of Fininvest prior to his death.

After his death in 2023 aged 86, Silvio’s shares in Fininvest were divided among his five children, including Marina and Pier Silvo.

In accordance with Silvio’s wishes, Marina and Pier Silvio subsequently entered an agreement to take joint control of Fininvest in September 2023.

They entered another similar agreement in January 2025.

Through their inheritance and subsequent agreements, Marina and Pier Silvo acquired an “indirect qualifying holding” of Fininvest’s 30.02 per cent stake in Mediolanum.

Such an acquisition requires notification to the Central Bank of Ireland.

Solicitors for the Berlusconis were informed by the Central Bank in August 2025 that it required a High Court order to provide retrospective approval for the acquisition in Mediolanum.

On Thursday, Declan Murphy, BL for Marina and Pier Silvio, instructed by William Fry solicitors, moved an application seeking permission for late notification to the Central Bank of the acquisition.

The application was on notice to the Central Bank.

The judge granted the orders as sought.

Forbes magazine estimates Marina's fortune, chairman of the Fininvest board, is valued in the region of €2.7 billion. Pier Silvio, a director on the board, is estimated to have a similar fortune.