A euro here, a euro there ….
Keep counting, and it doesn’t take long to note that euros, like dollars, can, well, really add up.
That’s maybe what former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi is thinking in the wake of his just-inked divorce settlement with estranged spouse and actress Veronica Lario. That’s certainly what Lario is thinking.
It is worth mentioning at the outset of any Berlusconi-related story focusing upon finances that the ex-politician and businessmen is more than moderately wealthy. In fact, he is most decidedly on the short list of the world’s richest people, a billionaire with a penchant for living large and with panache.
As to those euros, Italian newspapers are reporting that Lario is slated to receive well more than the equivalent of $900,000 per week as alimony going forward post-divorce. She had initially asked for more, but Berlusconi’s relatively paltry counteroffer resulted in three years of negotiations culminating in the new settlement terms.
The couple’s three children are grown and reportedly out of the house, so neither child custody nor child support was at issue in the divorce proceedings.
The house was, if, in fact, the property that the couple and their children lived in throughout most of their marriage can properly be termed as such. Although Lario wanted the dwelling — a $100 million-plus estate – added to her side of the ledger in the divorce settlement, the court let Berlusconi keep it.
Berlusconi, 76, is reportedly dating a woman presently who is nearly 50 years younger than he is.
Source: Reuters, “Berlusconi to pay 36 million euros a year divorce settlement: press,” Dec. 28, 2012