The enterprise of the Zard Abou Jaoude family is a self-declared attempt at renaissance, as per the very name of its cornerstone property development company, Renaissance Holding. It is a venture that aims to prosper through rebirthing the Lebanese village. At the heart of the tale is Georges Zard Abou Jaoude, an architect-banker and real estate tycoon whose life can be taken as case study to disprove the theory of homo oeconomicus — that man puts profit and self-interests above all else in making rational assessments. “I never think about business. You cannot but think business when you go into cash flows, profitability, return on equity, but what drove me during my whole life was passion. I function like this, it is how I deal,” says Abou Jaoude. “It’s not the best way to do [business], but when you are built like I am, you cannot change. Sometimes you go
