Mouna Ayoub
{{Short description|Lebanese businesswoman}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2021}}
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| name = Mouna Ayoub
{{lang|ar|منى أيوب}}
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| birth_name = Mouna Ayoub
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1957|2|27|df=y}}
| birth_place = Kuwait
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| nationality = Lebanese nationality and French
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| spouse = {{marriage|Nasser Al-Rashid|1979|1996|reason=divorced}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1999/07/27/style/mouna-ayoub-couture-client-shares-treasures-a-passion-for-the-finest.html|title=Mouna Ayoub, Couture Client, Shares Treasures : A Passion for the Finest|newspaper=The New York Times|date=27 July 1999|last1=Menkes|first1=Suzy}}
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Mouna Ayoub ({{langx|ar|منى أيوب}}) (born 27 February 1957 in Kuwait){{cite news |author=Staff writer |url=http://www.ladepeche.fr/article/2000/06/25/279374-Le-cri-d-amour-de-Mouna-Ayoub.html|title=Le cri d'amour de Mouna Ayoub |date=25 June 2000 |newspaper=La Dépêche du Midi |language=fr |access-date=13 August 2014}} is a French socialite and businesswoman of Lebanese origin. Frequently in the media, she is often a guest of the Cannes film festival and makes headlines in French gossip magazines.{{cite web |title=Mouna Ayoub – Couture is an art |url=http://www.pinterest.com/mouna8787/mouna-ayoub-couture-is-an-art/ |access-date=13 August 2014}}{{RS|date=January 2023}}
Biography
She was born into a Maronite Christian family. At the age of 20 she converted to Islam to marry Nasser Al-Rashid, a 40-year-old businessman and adviser to King Fahd. She has five children with Nasser Al-Rashid.{{Cite web|url=http://www.gala.fr/l_actu/news_de_stars/mouna_ayoub_la_mode_m_a_permis_de_faire_la_paix_avec_moi-meme_333862|title=Mouna Ayoub: 'la mode m'a permis de faire la paix avec moi-même' – Gala|date=21 January 2015 }} After eighteen years of marriage, and according to her divorce agreements, she left Saudi Arabia and built a fortune by investing in real estate and stocks.{{cite news |title=My marriage of misery to a billionaire |first1=Julian |last1=Coman |location=Paris |date=18 June 2000 |newspaper=The Daily Telegraph |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/1343734/My-marriage-of-misery-to-a-billionaire.html |access-date=13 August 2014}} She wrote about her marriage in her 2000 book La Vérité: autobiographie.{{cite book |publisher=M. Lafon |language=fr |isbn=2840986248 |title=La Vérité: autobiographie (French) |type=Paperback |date=1 January 2000 |location=Neuilly-sur-Seine |first1=Mouna |last1=Ayoub }}{{cite news |url=http://bigstory.ap.org/article/cinderella-couture-queen-meet-mouna-ayoub |title=Cinderella to Couture Queen: Meet Mouna Ayoub |first1=Thomas |last1=Adamson |date=20 February 2014 |publisher=Associated Press |location=Gennevilliers, France |access-date=13 August 2014}}
Ayoub stated she wrote the book to explain her situation, and to address allegations published by a Lebanese magazine that she was a modern-day Madame Bovary.{{cite magazine |title=What Money Can't Buy |first1=Scott |last1=MacLeod |location=Cairo |date=31 July 2000 |url=http://content.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2051048,00.html |magazine=Time |access-date=13 August 2014}} As Scott MacLeod of Time wrote: "But if her tale provides a rare look at the extravagance often wrought by unimagined wealth, it also serves as a disturbing manifesto against the extreme restrictions imposed on women by some ultraconservative Arab societies." Her former husband filed suit in an attempt to stop publication of the autobiography. The book became a best seller in France.
In 1997, she bought a boat from Bernard Tapie, the Phocéa (the largest sailing yacht in the world before 2004), for €5.56 million to which was added €18.25 million worth of work.{{cite news |first1=Paulina |last1=Szmydke |date=19 March 2014 |title=Mouna Ayoub's Moving Sale |newspaper=Women's Wear Daily |format=PDF |url=http://www.wwd.com/eye/people/mouna-ayoubs-moving-sale-7601229 |access-date=13 August 2014}}{{cite news |title=The Long, Troubled, Glamorous Life Of Superyacht Phocea |newspaper=Vanuatu Daily Post |date=16 November 2012 |url=http://archives.pireport.org/archive/2012/November/11-19-ft.htm |access-date=13 August 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140814055539/http://archives.pireport.org/archive/2012/November/11-19-ft.htm |archive-date=14 August 2014 |url-status=dead }} To pay for the work she sold a number of her jewels including "The Mouna diamond", one of the largest yellow diamonds of the world ({{convert|112.53|carat|g}}) for a price of €2.52 million (16.5 million francs) a Bulgari necklace for 15.3 million francs, and a collection of jewels by
Tabbah.{{cite web|last=Ghorra |first=Sara |url=http://life.executive-magazine.com/design/jewellery/house-of-tabbah-the-designer-and-manufacturer-of-bespoke-jewelry |title=House of Tabbah: The designer and manufacturer of bespoke jewelry |work=Executive Life |date=8 September 2015 |accessdate=2 August 2016}}{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/216060.stm |title=Record prices in auction houses |date=17 November 1998 |publisher=BBC News |access-date=14 August 2014}} After getting rid of the yacht, she sold the contents in a well publicized auction.
The Associated Press estimated her net worth at over $300 million. In 2006, The New York Times offered a figure of about $500 million.{{cite news |title=The Remix: Petro Dollies |first1=Sameer |last1=Reddy |newspaper=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/27/style/tmagazine/t_w_1505_remix_eastern_.html?_r |date=27 August 2006 |access-date=13 August 2014}}
She has the largest private collection of haute couture in the world, encompassing more than 10,000 items. She never wears the same item of couture twice, and all of the major couture houses maintain an Ayoub mannequin for a proper fit in her absence.{{cite news |url=http://fashion.telegraph.co.uk/article/TMG10651725/Meet-Mouna-Ayoub-the-billionaire-haute-couture-collector.html |title=Meet Mouna Ayoub: the billionaire haute couture collector |first1=Thomas |last1=Adamson |newspaper=The Daily Telegraph |date=20 February 2014 |access-date=14 August 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140814183602/http://fashion.telegraph.co.uk/article/TMG10651725/Meet-Mouna-Ayoub-the-billionaire-haute-couture-collector.html |archive-date=14 August 2014 }} The Associated Press claimed: She's also a couture philanthropist. "One of the richest women in the world will this week disclose how a disastrous marriage to a Saudi Royal family adviser drove her to depression and attempted suicide."
In late 2023, she partnered with Maurice Auctions and Kerry Taylor to auction 252 lots of Chanel haute couture, ranging from belts and bangles to full runway looks.{{Cite web |last=Garcia-Furtado |first=Laia |date=2023-11-15 |title=Want to Own a Piece of Fashion History? An Auction of '90s Chanel Haute Couture From the Collection of Mouna Ayoub Will Give You the Chance |url=https://www.vogue.com/article/mouna-ayoub-chanel-haute-couture-auction |access-date=2023-11-15 |website=Vogue |language=en-US}} A coat embroidered by Lesage with chinoiserie-inspired motifs, identical to one featured in multiple Metropolitan Museum Costume Institute exhibits, held the highest estimate of €150,000-200,000.{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=2023-11-15 |title=CHANEL HAUTE COUTURE |url=https://mauriceauction.com/lot/146031/23261093-chanel-haute-couturemanteau-dusort=ebd& |access-date=2023-11-15 |website=Maurice Auction |language=fr}} It sold for €312,000 before buyers premiums. {{Cite web |last=Socha |first=Miles |date=2023-11-21 |title=This Chanel Coat Just Sold for 312,000 Euros |url=https://wwd.com/fashion-news/fashion-scoops/chanel-couture-auction-paris-results-ayoub-1235944241/ |access-date=2023-11-21 |website=WWD |language=en-US}}
Published works
- {{cite book |publisher=M. Lafon |language=fr |isbn=2840986248 |title= La Vérité: autobiographie (French) |type=Paperback |date=1 January 2000 |location=Neuilly-sur-Seine |first1=Mouna |last1=Ayoub }}
References
{{Reflist|30em}}
External links
- {{IMDb name|id=1290976}}
- {{cite web |url=http://the-polyglot.blogspot.com/2011/01/return-of-mouna-ayoub.html |date=12 January 2011 |title=The Return of Mouna Ayoub |work=The Polyglot |author=Alex Aubry |access-date=14 August 2014}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ayoub, Mouna}}
Category:Naturalized citizens of France
Category:Converts to Sunni Islam from Christianity
Category:Lebanese Sunni Muslims
Category:French former Christians
Category:Lebanese businesspeople
Category:Former Maronite Christians
Category:Lebanese women in business
Category:Lebanese emigrants to France
Category:Lebanese emigrants to Saudi Arabia
Category:Lebanese emigrants to Kuwait
Category:20th-century Lebanese businesswomen
Category:21st-century Lebanese businesswomen