ROME (Reuters) - Here is a look at some of the high and low points in Italian billionaire and former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi’s life and career.

September 1936 - Silvio Berlusconi is born in Milan.

1960’s - Berlusconi makes his fortune during a property boom in Milan.

1965 - Berlusconi marries Carla Elvira Dall’Oglio. The couple have two children, but divorce in 1985.

1973 - Sets up cable television company Telemilano, which grows into Italy’s biggest media empire, Mediaset. Through his holding company Fininvest, Berlusconi also owns football club AC Milan and Italy’s largest publishing house, Mondadori.

1990 - Berlusconi marries for a second time. This marriage to Veronica Lario lasts until 2009. Lario had publicly demanded a divorce in early May that year from her husband of 19 years, accusing him of “frequenting minors”.

1993 - Starts Forza Italia, a new political party of the political center right.

January 1994 - Berlusconi storms into politics to fill a vacuum created after the “Bribesville” graft scandal destroyed the old Christian Democrat party. He wins a general election three months later and becomes prime minister. His government lasts only until December.

May 2001 - Berlusconi wins second election victory, taking office in June with Italy’s biggest post-war parliamentary majority.

April 2005 - Berlusconi resigns after two coalition partners demand a change of direction following a defeat for center-right parties in regional elections. He forms a new government two weeks later.

April 2008 - Berlusconi wins big majority in both houses of parliament after winning elections.

October 2011 - Media reports say Karima El Mahroug, a 17-year old Moroccan nightclub dancer known by the stage name of Ruby Heartstealer, had told investigators she attended “bunga bunga” sex parties with other young women at Berlusconi’s villa near Milan. Paying for sex with a minor is a crime in Italy. Both Berlusconi and El Mahroug deny they had sex.

November 2011 - Under heavy pressure from President Giorgio Napolitano, Berlusconi resigns after a collapse in market confidence which pushes Italy’s borrowing costs to critical levels. Berlusconi is replaced by respected former European Commissioner Mario Monti who forms a technocrat government.

September 2012 - After months in the shadows, Berlusconi returns to the political scene, attacking the Monti government and vowing to abolish a key housing tax.

October 26 - Berlusconi is sentenced to four years in jail for tax fraud in connection with the purchase of broadcasting rights by his Mediaset television company.

February 25, 2013 - Berlusconi wins a large chunk of votes alongside populist leader and comedian Beppe Grillo in elections, defying polls and building substantial negotiating power for tortuous talks on how to form a new government despite an uncertain result.

April 27 - Center-left politician Enrico Letta confirms he can form a government that will include Angelino Alfano, one of Berlusconi’s closest allies as deputy prime minister.

May 8 - A Milan appeals court upholds the October four-year sentence for tax fraud. The court’s ruling will also bar Berlusconi from holding public office for five years.

June 24 - Berlusconi is sentenced to seven years for abuse of office and paying for sex with a minor but he will not have to serve any time before the appeals process is exhausted. He insists he is innocent and will carry on in politics.

Aug 1 - The Court of Cassation, Italy’s Supreme Court, upholds a jail sentence handed to Berlusconi by a lower court for tax fraud. A ban on public office is sent back for review.

Reporting by Catherine Hornby and David Cutler, London Editorial Reference Unit

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