Renato Soru (born 6 August 1957) is an Italian politician and entrepreneur. He is the founder of the internet service company Tiscali, based in Cagliari. Forbes listed Soru as one of the world's richest people, with a net worth of over $4 billion as of September 2001.

Renato Soru
Renato Soru in 2008
President of Sardinia
In office
26 June 2004 – 27 February 2009
Preceded byItalo Masala
Succeeded byUgo Cappellacci
Member of the European Parliament
for Italian Islands
In office
1 July 2014 – 1 July 2019
Personal details
Born (1957-08-06) 6 August 1957 (age 67)
Sanluri, Italy
Political partySardinia Project (2003–2007; 2023–present)
Other political
affiliations
DS (until 2003)
Democratic Party (2007–2009; 2014–2019)
Independent (2009–2014; 2019–2023)
Alma materBocconi University

Early life and education

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Soru was born in Sanluri, Sardinia, in 1957. He holds a University degree from Bocconi University in Milan.

Career

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In 2004, Soru was elected the president of Sardinia with the centre-left coalition with an audacious program to reinvigorate the economy within the island by introducing external investors. 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

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On 5 May 2016, Soru 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 Ltd. to Tiscali. The sentence was reversed by the Italian Court of Appeal on 8 May 2017. Out of five counts, he was cleared from the third "because the fact is not a crime" and from the two "because the fact did not happen".[1]

References

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  1. ^ "Soru assolto da evasione fiscale - Ultima Ora". 8 May 2017.
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