TOM MONAGHAN
influenced him and prepared him for the seemingly insurmountable challenges that would lay ahead. Making it through the 16 weeks of Boot Camp gave Tom a lot of confidence. Tom felt if he could make it through that, he could deal with anything. Spending time on a ship in the South Pacific gave Tom a lot of time to think about life and his future. During that time, he came up with what he calls his five priorities…his roadmap for life. These priorities are: Spiritual: To be a good Catholic and have a strong relationship with God Social: To live by the Golden Rule Mental: To continue to educate oneself Physical: To care for the body which is the temple of the Holy Spirit Financial: To work hard and save for future goals The big dreams he allowed himself to have for wealth and success, he realized, would be empty and meaningless if they lacked consideration for others and for God. “I asked myself what good a lot of money would do me if I don’t have friends, a good marriage, continued health, or if I did not go to heaven.”
Tom Monaghan with his wife, Marjorie
There were a number of influences in Tom’s life that paved the way for him not only to become successful in business beyond his wildest dreams, but to ultimately divest himself of his vast luxuries in order to dedicate his life and his resources to getting more people to Heaven. It is a journey very few others have had the faith to take. Without a doubt, Tom will readily admit that his biggest influencer, his biggest supporter and a big part of his success is his wife of 58 years, Margie. Tom’s first and a lasting influence ironically was as a result of the loss of his father at a very early age. The 6 years he spent in the orphanage with the Felician sisters had an enormous influence on Tom’s faith formation. Even at that young age, Tom was dreaming big, of being financially successful and of being respected.
Despite the potential “excuses” listed above that may have given Tom reason to think he could never be a success, he did become successful - even beyond the wildest dreams of his youth. After years of challenges, setbacks, broken partnerships and lawsuits, Domino’s Pizza became the largest pizza chain in the world. With its enormous success eventually came the opportunity and the money for Tom to impress people. “I think I have always had a stronger than average urge to impress people. I don’t know where that came from. I think that was probably my upbringing, where I was always sort of poor, embarrassed about the situation that I was in, not having the things that other kids had, particularly a normal family.” In the early years of his success, Tom did impress. He bought things to impress other people - jet planes, a helicopter, yachts, classic cars - including an $8.1 million Bugatti Royale, an Indy Race car, a northern Michigan island resort and finally the Detroit Tigers professional baseball team. Tom admits:
“As a boy I was upset by the biblical proverb, “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven.” When I asked the nuns in the orphanage to explain it, they told me it means that a rich man needs to be poor in spirit. A person should be humble about wealth and want to do good with money, never anything morally wrong. I thought that was a pretty good guideline.”
“I didn’t pull off the role model thing very well. As a successful Catholic in the financial world, I had the idea that I was meant to be a role model, but there were a lot of mess ups along the way. I had this compulsion for all these luxuries and I was so foolish and so stupid, especially when I think of what I could have done. But it was obvious to me after I read C.S. Lewis‘s Mere Christianity that I was exactly the kind of person I hated: a show off. Thank God I had a second chance.”
Tom’s enlistment and subsequent training in the Marine Corps was another factor that strongly
Upon reflection, Tom recalled what he really always knew - that there is something in life Tom Monaghan, U.S. Marine
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