Renato Soru
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Renato Soru | |
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![]() Renato Soru in 2019 | |
President of Sardinia | |
In office 26 June 2004 – 27 February 2009 | |
Preceded by | |
Succeeded by | Ugo Cappellacci |
Personal details | |
Born | Sanluri, Italy | 6 August 1957
Nationality | Italian |
Political party | Democratic Party |
Alma mater | Bocconi University |
Renato Soru (born 6 August 1957) is an Italian politician and entrepreneur, the founder of the internet service company Tiscali, based in Cagliari. Forbes listed him as one of the world's richest people, with a net worth of over $4 billion (US) as of September 2001.
Early life and career[]
Soru was born in Sanluri, Sardinia in 1957. He holds a University degree from the Bocconi University in Milan.
In 2004 Soru was elected President of the Sardinia Region with the center-left coalition with an audacious program to reinvigorate the economy within the island by introducing external investors, but on 28 November 2008 he resigned from his position. He ran again for President of Sardinia in the February 2009 election but was defeated by the right-wing Popolo della Libertà candidate Ugo Cappellacci.
On 20 May 2008 Soru bought the left-wing newspaper l'Unità.
Controversies[]
On 5 May 2016 he was sentenced to three years in prison for tax evasion that amounted to about 2.6 million euro and was connected to a loan made by the company Andalas Ldt to Tiscali. The sentence was reversed by the Italian court of appeal on 8 May 2017. Out of 5 counts, Soru was cleared from 3 "because the fact is not a crime" and 2 "because the fact did not happen".[1]
References[]
- ^ "Soru assolto da evasione fiscale - Ultima Ora". 8 May 2017.
External links[]
- Bernhard, Marcella, "Forbes Faces: Renato Soru", Forbes, 1 Oktober 2001
- Forbes listing from "World's Richest People" (archived 2011)
- Personal profile of Renato Soru in the European Parliament's database of members
- 1957 births
- Living people
- Presidents of Sardinia
- Bocconi University alumni
- Italian mass media owners
- Internet company founders
- Italian newspaper publishers (people)
- Italian billionaires
- People from the Province of South Sardinia
- MEPs for Italy 2014–2019
- 21st-century Italian politicians
- Members of the Regional Council of Sardinia
- 21st-century Italian criminals
- Italian people convicted of tax crimes
- Italian politicians convicted of crimes
- Heads of government who were later imprisoned
- Italian politician stubs
- Italian MEP stubs