Pizza man unloads his exotics (long)

[Tony Abramavicius <tabrams@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

An interesting article on what a former digester is doing with himself.
This man was on the bmw digest about a year ago.  Few digesters believed
he actually owned the exotic cars he mentioned in his submissions....


C.S. Lewis sparks a Domino effect

                       By Tom Rhodes and Margarette Driscoll
                                Special to The Star

                    Thomas Monaghan, then 54 and the founder of
                  Domino's Pizza, one of the most successful companies
in
                  the United States, had always been a man of spiritual
                  leanings, but the words of C. S. Lewis' book Mere
                  Christianity stirred something within him.

                  As he reached Lewis' thoughts on ``the great sin'' -
                  pride - Monaghan thought guiltily of the trappings of
his
                  own enormous wealth.

                  ``I lay awake virtually all night,'' he said. ``I
realized I
                  had more pride than any person I know.''

                  By morning, he had resolved to change his life and
                  began what the Wall Street Journal termed ``an
                  extraordinary renunciation of material assets.'' To
the
                  astonishment of the U.S. business world, Monaghan
                  began to divest himself of his fortune.

                  First went the Sikorsky S-76 helicopter, then the
                  corporate jet, the Bentley Turbo and the Rolls-Royce
he
                  never used. A 190-foot sloop, the Domino Effect, went
                  on the market. So did a treasured collection of
furniture
                  and artifacts by Frank Lloyd Wright.

                  Last week, Monaghan sold what has now become the
                  world's largest pizza delivery chain for an estimated
$1
                  billion (U.S.) Although he retains a small interest in
the
                  company, both the proceeds of the sale and his own
                  energies will be ploughed into good causes.

                  Almost as remarkable as the renunciation itself is the
fact
                  it was prompted by the work of a British academic
                  whose life experience could not be further removed
                  from Detroit's poor-boy-made-good.

                  A short stay at a Catholic seminary ended when he was
                  expelled for pillow fighting and whispering in chapel.
But
                  a sense of faith remained with him after he joined the

                  marines and was later forced to drop out of Michigan
                  State University for lack of funds.

                  Hoping to make enough money to return, he borrowed
                  $900 with his brother and bought a pizza shop called
                  DomiNick's.

                  Jim traded his share of the business for a used
                  Volkswagen Beetle. As sole owner, Monaghan built up
                  6,100 outlets all over the world, including Canada.
Last
                  year, sales topped $3.1 billion. The boss' trademark
                  was his strong work ethic; staff, expected to have the

                  same sober approach to life, were nicknamed
                  ``Dominoids'' by competitors.

                  Monaghan recognized himself as Lewis' proud man -
                  competitive, acquisitive and vain - and disliked what
he
                  saw.

                  With the rest of his booty went 240 classic cars,
                  including a Bugatti Royale which had cost him $8
                  million. At one point, he began living on bread and
water
                  two days a week and stopped working in his $2 million,

                  mahogany-lined office because it was too ostentatious.


                  LONDON SUNDAY TIMES

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