The €350 million sale closes a chapter in one of Europe’s most colorful political legacies.
One of Italy’s most notorious pieces of political real estate has reportedly found a buyer.
Qatar’s former Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Hamad bin Jassim bin Jabr Al Thani has acquired Villa Certosa, the Sardinian estate of late Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, for €350 million, according to Italian daily La Repubblica. The sale comes roughly a year after Berlusconi’s family put the property on the market.
The villa overlooking the Gulf of Marinella served as the Italian leader’s unofficial summer court while in power, gaining notoriety for so-called “bunga bunga” parties.
These now infamous soirées led to an underage prostitution case, which saw Berlusconi accused of corruption and abuse of office. He was ultimately acquitted, unlike former dental hygienist and television personality Nicole Minetti, whose conviction for her role in procuring women for these events wreaked havoc on current Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s justice ministry in May.
Villa Certosa’s buyer is reported to be acting through a Luxembourg-based investment vehicle linked to the Al Thani family, the dynasty that has ruled Qatar for more than 150 years. The purchase adds to the family’s growing footprint in Sardinia, where it already holds investments ranging from luxury tourism assets to the Mater Olbia hospital.
The sale also helps untangle the final financial legacy of Berlusconi, whose heirs have been executing the late media tycoon’s will since his death in 2023. Among the largest sums Berlusconi bequeathed are €100 million each to his former partner Marta Fascina and brother Paolo Berlusconi.