A few days ago, Italy said its final farewell to its most prominent citizen, Pippo Baudo, who now rests in the family cemetery in the city in the province of Catania, where he was born in 1936.
It is currently unknown whether he has a will, so, apart from any specific instructions – which could benefit, for example, his secretary and permanent assistant Dina Minna and his lawyer friend Giorgio Assumma – the presenter's estate will, by law, be divided between his two children, Alessandro and Tiziana.
Alessandro, who has lived in Australia for years and who, according to his statements, did not have much contact with his father, but came immediately to Italy to attend the funeral, was born in 1962 from Baudo's relationship with Mirella Adinolfi. For many years he had believed that he was the son of the Rai director, Tullio Formosa, and only in 2000, when he was officially recognized by Pippo, did he learn the truth. The mother of the second daughter, Tiziana, born in 1970, is Angela Lippi, to whom the presenter was married from 1970 to 1975.
But how much is Pippo Baudo's wealth and what does it consist of? It is impossible to determine exactly, although, of course, it is a considerable amount.
According to the newspaper Il Messaggero, from directing the 13 editions of the Sanremo Festival alone, he would have earned over 10 million euros (around 800,000 euros for each edition), to which must be added payments for many other television programs over the decades and the rights to use his image. Income from copyrights for songs he had written, such as “Donna Rosa” or “W le donne”, have also contributed to the growth of his wealth. In addition, he also received a minimal pension, around 900–1000 euros per month.
The profits made during his 40-year career have been invested mainly in real estate, five of which are located in Rome, in the Prati area and in the historic center, with a total market value of around 5 million euros.
In Via della Vite, in the Colonna district, four apartments in the same building are listed in Baudo's name. Two of them, joined into a single one, extend from the third to the sixth floor and consist of 12.5 residential units, with a value of approximately 2,165,853.29 euros. The other two, on the first and second floors, are valued at approximately 780,000 euros each.
These properties were not purchased directly by him, but are the result of a judicial seizure ordered by the civil court of Rome on September 14, 1985 against the company of Alida Chelli, Walter Chiari's ex-wife and Baudo's partner for seven years. The seizure took place right after her separation from the presenter, although the exact reasons were never made public.
In Via della Giuliana, in the Prati neighborhood, there is another property with seven residential units, which for years also served as Baudo's office, with a market value exceeding one million euros. In Fiano Romano, there was also an agricultural land of 210 square meters.
There is also no shortage of assets in Sicily, his birthplace with which he always had a strong connection. In particular, in Syracuse he owned five plots of land that currently appear uncultivated and of little value, and in Noto another ten, including agricultural fields, an almond plantation and two vineyards, with a total cadastral value of around 30,000 euros.
His investments in construction do not stop there. He had a 20% stake in two construction companies: San Rocco srl and Torre Grifo srl, which deal with the construction of residential and non-residential buildings.
The list of properties owned by Baudo does not include many of those he had bought over the years and then sold, such as the villa in Torre delle Stelle, in Maracalagonis, where he spent a lot of time during his marriage to Katia Ricciarelli.
Also missing is the building that, as he himself has confessed in many interviews, he had to hand over to Silvio Berlusconi in 1988 as compensation for the premature termination of his contract with Fininvest, which enabled him to return to Rai. The building is also located in Rome, opposite the FAO headquarters, and after Berlusconi's purchase it became the headquarters of Tg5.
