Berlusconi: Rise and fall of Italy's playboy politico

The flamboyant billionaire has been prime minister three times in a career that began with an election victory in 1994 when he burst on to the political scene aided by his massive media assets and popular charm.

With his slick hair and winning smile, Berlusconi has ruled Italy for 10 of the past 20 years and has become renowned on the international stage for his buffoonish antics and blustering grand claims.

He has been written off countless times, only to bounce back thanks to his formidable campaigning skills and ability to connect with voters, as well as constant -- unfulfilled -- promises to lower taxes.

On Wednesday, he vowed to stay in politics even as an ex-senator to defend "our rights, our assets, our freedoms", saying he would not "retire to some convent".

But analysts say his power is gradually declining.

Berlusconi was ousted from his last stint in power in 2011 in a blaze of sex scandals and financial panic when Italy appeared headed for bankruptcy.

But he re-emerged with a powerful election campaign earlier this year that won him almost a third of the vote and nearly brought him back to power.

The biggest obstacle in the 77-year-old's power play has always been his numerous legal woes.

His definitive conviction for tax fraud in August left him facing 12 months of community service and a ban from taking part in the next general election.

Earlier this year he was also sentenced to one year in jail for publishing a confidential police wiretap in a newspaper he owns to damage a political rival.

And in June he was sentenced to seven years for paying for sex with an underage 17-year-old prostitute Karima El-Mahroug, known as "Ruby the Heart Stealer", and for abuse of the powers of the prime minister's office.

Because Berlusconi is over the age of 70 he will not have to do actual jail time.

Irresistible charm, sleazy scandals

Berlusconi was born in 1936, in Milan, Italy's economic capital, to a bank employee father and a housewife mother who staunchly defended her son's virtues even as the scandals mounted.

The young Berlusconi was a born entertainer.

A huge fan of singer Nat King Cole, he played double bass and entertained the crowd with jokes in clubs during breaks from studying law.

He also worked briefly as a cruise-ship crooner before launching a lucrative career in the booming construction sector and then expanding to set up three national television channels and buy AC Milan, one of the world's leading football clubs.

Berlusconi's political success and growing influence as a broadcasting tycoon were closely entwined: the media magnate won over millions of Italians, from disgruntled housewives to sports fans, through his vast television empire.

His first stint as prime minister in 1994 lasted only a few months when a key ally betrayed him.

In 2001, he was elected again after a campaign which included sending a book boasting of his achievements to 15 million Italian homes.

The media magnate remained in power until 2006 -- the longest premiership in the history of post-war Italy -- and as a divided left floundered, he was voted back in for a third time in 2008.

Italy's richest person between 1996 and 2008 -- he owns villas around the world -- the party-loving premier has been embroiled in a string of scandals. Details have emerged of vast sums that Berlusconi has lavished on young escorts.

He claims he has been subjected to 57 trials and regularly bats off accusations, saying they are engineered by left-wing prosecutors with an axe to grind.

Berlusconi has also become notorious for his off-colour jokes and diplomatic gaffes, on one occasion likening a German Euro-MP to a Nazi.

His description of US President Barack Obama as "suntanned", his flirting with female heads of state, and his friendship with late Libyan dictator Moamer Kadhafi also damaged his standing.