Silvio Berlusconi served his fourth term as the Italian Prime Minister from May 8, 2008, until he resigned from his position on Nov. 12, 2011. The reasons for Berlusconi’s resignment include the severe economic standings of Italy and his incredibly low approval rating.

As the prime minister of Italy, Berlusconi was involved in over 2,500 court hearings with alleged charges ranging from tax fraud to child prostitution. Junior Will Thompson said that “[he is] surprised to hear of the number of court cases [Berlusconi] was involved in; it seems like the people would find a way to remove him from office with that much going on.”

Berlusconi was elected Prime Minister of Italy for the first time in 1994. He was defeated and taken out of office in the 1996 elections by Romano Prodi, and he was elected to the office for a second time in 2001. He then remained in office for two terms until 2006, when he was again defeated by Romano Prodi. Berlusconi was elected for a fourth term in 2008 and has remained in office since this election.

The reason for Berlusconi’s multiple re-elections was his support from much of the wealthy upper-class of Italy. He also currently owns Mediaset, a cable company that controls three national television channels, as well as a controlling stake in Arnaldo Mondadori Editore, a major publishing company in Italy. Along with these assets, he owns a large number of stocks in many different corporations throughout Italy.

Junior Jake Anderson said that “[he] had no idea that [Berlusconi] owned so many different businesses and had so much stake in those companies.”

These business ventures have allowed Berlusconi to accumulate a massive personal fortune; according to Forbes Magazine, he is the third wealthiest man in Italy with a net worth of over 9 billion dollars. Many Italian citizens also believe that this great personal wealth has made Berlusconi careless with the Italian government money.

Berlusconi also owns the soccer club A.C. Milan, which, along with the associated junior team the Boca Juniors, has won the most FIFA recognized international club titles in the world.

Silvio Berlusconi had a very low popularity rating among the people of Italy, and this is very evident in the Italian peoples’ account of his terms as prime minister. Senior Lexi Knight said that, “when [she] was in Italy, every Italian [she] talked to said that Berlusconi is a pig.”

Berlusconi resigned to the cheers, chants, and jeers of the onlooking Italian citizens, according to the Huffington Post. After an on and off political career at the head of the Italian government, it appears as though Berlusconi will not be returning to office again.

Europe has been experiencing incredible economic turmoil in recent years, and Portugal, Italy, Ireland, Greece and Spain have been the center of this debacle. These nations are known as “The PIIGS of Europe,” which is an acronym representing these nations.

Junior Danny Smith said that “[he] doesn’t know too much about the current economic situation in Europe, but [he] understand[s] that it’s going to take a lot of work to fix.”

Connor Sample is a Variety Editor for The Spartan Speaks