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 (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 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 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 Ldt 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". References External links Bernhard, Marcella, "Forbes Faces: Renato Soru", Forbes, 1 Oktober 2001 Forbes listing from "World's Richest People" (archived 2011) 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 Soru 21st-century Italian criminals Italian people convicted of tax crimes Italian politicians convicted of crimes Heads of government who were later imprisoned