Mouna Ayoub (Arabic: منى أيوب) (born 27 February 1957 in Kuwait)[2] 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.[3][unreliable source?]
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.[4] 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.[5] She wrote about her marriage in her 2000 book La Vérité: autobiographie.[6][7][8]
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.[8] 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."[8] Her former husband filed suit in an attempt to stop publication of the autobiography.[5] The book became a best seller in France.[8]
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.[9][10] 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 (112.53 carats (22.506 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.[11][10][12] After getting rid of the yacht, she sold the contents in a well publicized auction.[9]
The Associated Press estimated her net worth at over $300 million.[5][7] In 2006, The New York Times offered a figure of about $500 million.[13]
She has the largest private collection of haute couture in the world, encompassing more than 10,000 items.[3][7] 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.[7][14] 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."[5]
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.[15] 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.[16] It sold for €312,000 before buyers premiums. [17]
Published works
Ayoub, Mouna (1 January 2000). La Vérité: autobiographie (French) (Paperback) (in French). Neuilly-sur-Seine: M. Lafon. ISBN2840986248.
