Feras Antoon's Net Worth Since Leaving MindGeek
Feras Antoon's net worth since resigning from MindGeek and Pornhub is still impressive. He continues to own shares of MindGeek, owner of controversial site Pornhub, the subject of a new Netflix documentary.
March 16 2023, Published 5:06 p.m. ET
Money Shot is the documentary about MoneyGeek, Pornhub, and the people behind them.
Who is Feras Antoon? The media mogul was formerly the chief executive officer at MindGeek, the owner of controversial website Pornhub. In June 2022 Antoon resigned from his CEO post, but held onto shares, according to the company's announcements at the time. How much is Feras Antoon's net worth now that he's departed MindGeek?
Feras Antoon once ran MindGeek, the parent company of Pornhub. The Syrian-born entrepreneur was educated in the United States and went on to business success at MindGeek. However, it wasn't all increased revenue and corporate bonuses—Pornhub, owned by MindGeek, has faced severe scrutiny and numerous lawsuits.
Part of a trailer for the Netflix series "Money Shot."
Feras Antoon
Former CEO of MindGeek
Net worth: $4 million (unconfirmed)
Feras Antoon was born in Damascus, Syria. He went into the pornography industry as an adult, eventually being a co-owner and the CEO of MindGeek. Working with fellow Concordia University graduates in the early 2000s, Antoon started a pornography website for Mansef Productions. Later he ran MindGeek, which owns Pornhub. In 2022, he resigned from the top executive position. In March of 2023, a documentary about the Pornhub controversy arrived on Netflix.
Birthdate: June 29, 1975
Birthplace: Damascus, Syria
Education: Concordia University
Spouse: Nicole Manos
How did Feras Antoon's career begin?
Feras Antoon may not be a familiar name to you, but if you've heard of the lawsuits against Pornhub, you've got a glimpse into his life's work: the business of pornography. Antoon began his work with the porn industry by creating the site Brazzers around 2005 with Ouissam Youssef, Matt Keezer, and Stephane Manos. That site largely focused on attractive women who were somewhat older.
YouPorn was another of the pornography websites founded by the group. Eventually, the sites were sold to a German businessman, Fabian Thylmann, for a reported $140 million. He changed the name from Manwin to MindGeek, but in 2012 he was charged with tax evasion and sold the company.
The sale to Antoon and Tassillo was for a reported 73 million euros. At one time MindGeek was deemed a "porn monopoly" due to its wide-reaching influence on the whole industry. When the two of them resigned, they reportedly kept their shares of MindGeek, meaning Antoon may still be easily a multi-millionaire (one site estimates his net worth at $4 million).
Pornhub's logo is pictured at the Adult Entertainment Expo in 2018.
What happened to Pornhub?
The pornography site has faced plenty of opposition from conservative groups, and lawsuits filed have alleged that Pornhub and MindGeek violated child pornography laws and federal sex trafficking laws. This was due to alleged videos on the site portraying people under the age of 18 engaging in sexual acts or being victimized.
In December of 2020, New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof published a column condemning Pornhub. As The Guardian reported later that month, his column first pointed out the good that Pornhub had done (such as donating to racial equality organizations) but then continued with the scathing rebuke: "its site is infested with rape videos."
Kristof's column brought a crushing spotlight onto Pornhub and its performers, and soon credit card companies Visa and Mastercard banned the use of their cards on the website. Pornhub was pushed to delete thousands of videos from unverified users and attempt to clean up its content moderation practices.
Blocking of Pornhub prompted protests in Thailand in 2020.
Why did Feras Antoon think his mansion burned down?
In April of 2021, news broke that the mansion Antoon had built for his family, worth an approximate $16 million, according to Business Insider. He had purchased the land it sat on for $1.8 million (it was two lots of land adjacent to a nature preserve in Montreal).
Antoon's mansion consisted eight bedrooms and a huge number of baths, as well as a nine-car garage, 6,000-square-foot ballroom, a movie theater, fitness center, and chef's kitchen. But just days after listing it for sale for $16 million, two people were seen in surveillance footage trespassing just before the mansion burned to the ground.
The porn executive told Vanity Fair in a rare interview that he believed the fire was intentionally set by critics of Pornhub. As the backlash from the NYT piece continued, Antoon stated, "I can't even count how many comments I saw from people saying to burn the company or my house down."
Individuals involved in the Netflix documentary about Pornhub at the premiere party on March 13, 2023.
Where is Feras Antoon now?
Since his home burned down and he left his leadership role at MindGeek, Antoon keeps a low profile. It's unclear where he lives now, although he may still reside in Montreal.
Now, those curious about the saga of MindGeek, Pornhub, and Feras Antoon can stream the new documentary on Netflix. Money Shot: The Pornhub Story is available on the streaming platform now. The show goes into detail about the rise and fall of the pornography-centric social media site and its impact on performers who relied on that income, especially during the pandemic.
