For the most part, his money supports organizations that are anti-choice, anti-gay, and generally exclusionary. Monaghan, however, is rather selective about which parts of Catholicism he brings to the world. According to its Web site, the foundation has the rather banal mission to “support a variety of organizations which bring Catholic life and culture to the world.” The foundation-according to its 2003 IRS tax filing, the most recent one available-currently has assets of nearly $180 million, giving away about $42 million in grants in 2003. Monaghan is currently the president of the Ave Maria Foundation, which he established in 1983 with earnings from his pizza chain. A longtime donor to religious causes and organizations, he has used the money from the Domino’s sale to become one of the largest funders of nonprofit organizations, political action committees (PACs), and candidates for public office that share a strong devotion to orthodox Catholicism and extreme conservative policy ideals. Monaghan-who was also the owner of the Detroit Tigers from 1983 until 1992-sold most of his ownership in Domino’s in 1998, and boosted his personal wealth to nearly $1 billion. Today, Domino’s has 7,000 stores worldwide and annual revenues of about $4 billion. By 1985, Monaghan-who claims he owes all of his success to “stupidity”-was worth several hundred million dollars, as his pizza empire had expanded around the globe. Overall while dated this is still a great book on building a successful business that anyone can learn a lot from.In 1960, Thomas Monaghan used a $500 loan to purchase a pizza shop in Ypsilanti, Michigan, called DomiNick’s, which he soon renamed Domino’s. There is not much of the book dedicated to the Detroit Tigers so if you are reading the book for the baseball aspect you should probably pass. While there are many lessons that an entrepreneur can take away from this book particularly about handling bad partnerships and debt the overall story is one that focuses on passion. Monaghan is very clearly a man committed to pizza and his love and passion shine throughout the book. It was a commitment to quality and a 30 min delivery that made Monaghan stand out and ultimately lead to success. The early years both through the bad partnerships, the struggles of becoming known as a pizza only take out place when people expected sandwiches and pasta along with pizza. As you read through the pages you will find it amazing that Domino's even made it at all. Much of this book deals with the early failures of the Domino’s Pizza Company and the struggle to make it profitable. This book details the early years of dominoes up until the purchase of the Detroit Tigers. Pizza Tiger is the autobiography of Domino’s Pizza and Detroit Tiger’s owner Tom Monaghan. This book might have been written before all that. At the end, he admits to attending daily mass! He definitely wrote the book with a focus on his business (vs. Occasional references to his Catholic faith. The author's infectious excitement carried the reader through lots of business minutia. Also, some of the pizza business bits were boring to me. There didn't seem to be any appreciation for work/life balance. I also imagined the poor families of his employees who never got to see their loved ones as he pushed them more and more. Minus one star because I kept thinking - Oh, his poor wife! He was beyond driven at business and that had to take a heavy toll on his family's life. Interesting as a business book and physiological study. Some of his business predictions sound like Trump - "best ever!". And grandiose in his business goals at the same time. Very open about his personality and regrets. To say he was driven in business is an understatement. Written in the 1980's at the height of Domino's success, its Catholic founder recalls his life - including a childhood spent in an orphanage & various fostercare homes in extreme poverty (the first 80-ish pages, the most interesting part for me) followed by the building of his pizza empire.
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