OH, SILVIO!

Berlusconi’s Ex-Wife Ordered to Repay Him $70M in Alimony

Appellate judge ruled that his astronomical €1.4 million monthly alimony payment was unjust.

Silvio Berlusconi, the king of bunga bunga and lucky breaks, must surely feel like he has just won the lottery. Not only did his Forza Italia center-right political party spring back to life in regional elections this month that could put him back at the helm of the nation, but an appellate judge in Milan just ruled that his astronomical €1.4 million monthly alimony payment is unjust. In fact, the judge ruled that his ex-wife Veronica Lario (his second), who divorced Berlusconi in 2009 for “consorting with minors” and because of his arrest and subsequent criminal trial for abetting underage prostitution with a 17-year-old named Ruby the Heartstealer, has to pay Berlusconi back some €60 million that he has paid her in alimony so far. The reason? The judge ruled that modern terms of alimony should only apply to “self sufficiency and no longer the standard of living enjoyed during the marriage.” Lario does get to keep her jewelry, several estates and the original €16 million that Berlusconi offered her when she left. Berlusconi, instead, gets the last laugh.

—Barbie Latza Nadeau