The newspaper was founded in 1974 by the journalist
Indro Montanelli, together with the colleagues
Enzo Bettiza,
Ferenc Fejtő,
Raymond Aron, and others, after some disagreements with the new pro-left-wing editorial line adopted by the newspaper , where Montanelli had been one of the most important contributors. Montanelli left in 1973. with Montanelli as editor and member of the publishing company board of directors, which included an editorial office composed of 59 journalists. The paper holds conservative and right-wing stances. The paper's headquarters is in Milan. In 1977, Montanelli, who was in financial difficulties, accepted an offer by
Silvio Berlusconi, who became the new owner. In 1983, the paper was renamed as . In 1992, Berlusconi left the role of the owner of to his brother,
Paolo Berlusconi. , the publisher of the newspaper, Società Europea di Edizioni, was owned by Paolo Berlusconi (58.3%) and
Arnoldo Mondadori Editore (41.7% directly and indirectly). In 2007, the monthly business magazine
Espansione became a
supplement of the paper. As of 2016, Società Europea di Edizioni was still partially owned by Arnoldo Mondadori Editore directly for 36.90%, which is a listed company that majority owned by
Fininvest. It was reported that by , the owner of several sports newspaper of Italy, had interested to subscribe the capital increase of Società Europea di Edizioni. The
Berlusconi family sold
il Giornale to
Antonio Angelucci (who also owns
Libero and
Il Tempo) in September 2023. ==Circulation==