Feras Antoon ( ar, فراس انطون, Fūras Antūn; born 29 June 1975) is a Syrian-Canadian pornographer, and the co-owner and CEO of
MindGeek
MindGeek (formerly Manwin) is a Luxembourg-based, privately held company with Canada as its center of operations that primarily focuses on pornography. It is owned by Feras Antoon, Bernd Bergmair (Bernard Bergemar), David Marmorstein, and — mo ...
, the world's largest pornography company, which runs sites including
YouPorn
YouPorn is a free pornographic video sharing website and one of the 100 most accessed websites in the world. Since launching in August 2006, it grew to become one of the most popular pornographic website on the internet, and, in November 2007 ...
and
Pornhub
Pornhub is a Canadian-owned internet pornography website. It is one of several pornographic video-streaming websites owned by MindGeek. , Pornhub is the 10th-most-trafficked website in the world and the second-most-trafficked adult website aft ...
. He created his first porn website in the early 2000s before co-founding
Brazzers
Brazzers (, company name: MG Premium Ltd.) is a Canadian pornographic video production company with headquarters in Montreal, Quebec, Canada and legal domicile in Nicosia, Cyprus. With an online network consisting of thirty-one hardcore pornog ...
, which specialized in the
MILF
MILF (, as if read as "milf") is an acronym that stands for "Mother I'd Like to Fuck". This abbreviation is used in colloquial English, instead of the whole phrase. It connotes an older woman considered sexually attractive, typically one who has ...
segment of porn distribution, which depicts sexually attractive older women. He and David Tassillo later bought Manwin (MindGeek) from Fabian Thylmann.
Early life
Feras Antoon was born on 29 June 1975 in the city of
Damascus
)), is an adjective which means "spacious".
, motto =
, image_flag = Flag of Damascus.svg
, image_seal = Emblem of Damascus.svg
, seal_type = Seal
, map_caption =
, ...
, Syria, before immigrating to Canada. A resident of
Montreal
Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...
, he graduated with an engineering degree from Montreal's
Concordia University
Concordia University ( French: ''Université Concordia'') is a public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1974 following the merger of Loyola College and Sir George Williams University, Concordia is one of the t ...
.
Career
In the early 2000s, with four other recent Concordia engineering graduates, he created his first porn website for Mansef Productions. The company was run by Stéphane Manos, and Antoon would become his brother-in-law.
Their first porn company,
Brazzers
Brazzers (, company name: MG Premium Ltd.) is a Canadian pornographic video production company with headquarters in Montreal, Quebec, Canada and legal domicile in Nicosia, Cyprus. With an online network consisting of thirty-one hardcore pornog ...
, was set up in about 2005 by Ouissam Youssef, Matt Keezer, Stephane Manos, and Feras Antoon with the company name being an allusion/homage to their mainly Middle Eastern origins, and their pronunciation of "Brothers".
Brazzers focused on the sexualization of
MILF
MILF (, as if read as "milf") is an acronym that stands for "Mother I'd Like to Fuck". This abbreviation is used in colloquial English, instead of the whole phrase. It connotes an older woman considered sexually attractive, typically one who has ...
s.
According to Antoon, "At first, they focused on busty women, because the big tits niche was so cheap. They realized that the MILF niche – the older-women niche – is even bigger. And they became masters of the big-tit-MILF niche".
Further expansion led to sites including
YouPorn
YouPorn is a free pornographic video sharing website and one of the 100 most accessed websites in the world. Since launching in August 2006, it grew to become one of the most popular pornographic website on the internet, and, in November 2007 ...
, before all the businesses were sold to German businessman
Fabian Thylmann
Fabian Thylmann (born 5 June 1978) is a businessman from Germany who was founder and managing partner of the Internet pornography conglomerate Manwin (now MindGeek). In October 2013, he sold his stake in the company, which was at the time the la ...
for an estimated $140 million.
In January 2011, commenting on paid and free ("tube") porn sites, Antoon said, "I personally have one or two memberships, and I still go to the tubes. I get my appetizer on the tubes, my main course on one of the sites."
Following his extradition from Belgium to Germany in 2012, on charges of tax evasion,
Fabian Thylmann
Fabian Thylmann (born 5 June 1978) is a businessman from Germany who was founder and managing partner of the Internet pornography conglomerate Manwin (now MindGeek). In October 2013, he sold his stake in the company, which was at the time the la ...
, the owner of Manwin (which changed its name to MindGeek in 2013) sold the company to its two senior managers, Antoon and COO
David Tassillo, for a reported €73 million.
Antoon is the CEO of
MindGeek
MindGeek (formerly Manwin) is a Luxembourg-based, privately held company with Canada as its center of operations that primarily focuses on pornography. It is owned by Feras Antoon, Bernd Bergmair (Bernard Bergemar), David Marmorstein, and — mo ...
(formerly Manwin), which in 2014 was described as a "porn monopoly".
By 2016, the
Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF) in Montreal had executed search warrants and obtained cease-trade orders for 13 people, with allegations of
insider trading
Insider trading is the trading of a public company's stock or other securities (such as bonds or stock options) based on material, nonpublic information about the company. In various countries, some kinds of trading based on insider information ...
including Antoon, David Baazov,
Josh Baazov
Josh is a masculine given name, frequently a diminutive (hypocorism) of the given names Joshua or Joseph, though since the 1970s, it has increasingly become a full name on its own. It may refer to:
People A–J
* "Josh", an early pseudonym of S ...
, and
John Chatzidakis
John is a common English name and surname:
* John (given name)
* John (surname)
John may also refer to:
New Testament
Works
* Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John
* First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John
* Second E ...
.
Personal life
Antoon lives in Montreal, Canada. He is married to Nicole Manos, a Canadian of Greek descent. The couple have two sons. Nicole is the daughter of George Manos and Louise Laberge Manos (1952–2017).
His brother Mark Antoon is a vice-president of MindGeek. Antoon's
Can$
The Canadian dollar (symbol: $; code: CAD; french: dollar canadien) is the currency of Canada. It is abbreviated with the dollar sign $, there is no standard disambiguating form, but the abbreviation Can$ is often suggested by notable style g ...
19-million dollar mansion in the 'Mafia Row' neighbourhood of Montreal burnt down in a suspected arson on 26 April 2021.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Antoon, Feras
1975 births
Living people
Canadian chief executives
Canadian pornographers
Concordia University alumni
MindGeek
Canadian people of Syrian descent
People from Damascus
Syrian emigrants to Canada