ROME, April 14 (Xinhua) -- Media mogul Silvio Berlusconi won his third term as Italy's prime minister at a two-day general election which ended on Monday.

    Born in Milan in Sept. 29, 1936, Berlusconi is not only a politician, but also an entrepreneur and media tycoon.

    He entered politics in 1994 as founder of the center-right Forza Italia (Go, Italy) party and before the 2008 general election he launched the new political party People of Freedom in February which merged Forza Italia with National Alliance and other liberal and conservative parties.

    Berlusconi's rise in the political arena was extremely rapid. He was elected prime minister following the March 1994 elections, when Forza Italia gained a relative majority a mere three months after having been officially launched.

    He formed the first right-wing administration in 34 years. However, his cabinet collapsed after seven months, due to internal disagreements in the center-right coalition.

    In the 1996 elections, he ran for prime minister again but was defeated by center-left candidate Romano Prodi. From 1996 to 2001 he was the leader of the parliamentary opposition.

    In the 2001 elections, he was again the center-right candidate for prime minister and won against the center-left candidate Francesco Rutelli. Berlusconi then led the only one Italian government in the last 50 years that has lasted a full five-year term, but he lost the April 2006 general election to Prodi, whose government collapsed in January after 20 months in power.

    During election campaign, Berlusconi pledged to take economic and social reforms to stimulate the sluggish economy and ensure security for citizens, but he was criticized of failing to fulfill his promises during his second term.

    In addition to a star politician, Berlusconi is the founder and main shareholder of Fininvest, one of the ten largest Italian privately-owned companies, which operate in media and finance. He owns three of the seven national television channels, which account for nearly half the Italian TV market, as well as some of the country's most important newspapers.

    According to Forbes magazine, Berlusconi is Italy's second richest person, with personal assets worth 9.4 billion U.S. dollars in 2008, making him the world's 90th richest person.

    After Berlusconi's election as prime minister in 2001, the left accused him of also abusing his position as premier to control the publicly owned RAI TV channels.

    He has been dogged by court cases relating to his Fininvest business empire and has accused prosecutors of hounding him for political reasons. Berlusconi went on trial again in late 2006 charged with fraud at broadcaster Mediaset, which his family controls.

    Berlusconi was married to former actress Veronica Lario in 1990,by whom he has three children. With an ex-wife, Berlusconi has two more children.