Positivity: Billionaire traded materialism for true happiness
Excerpts from USA Today Interview of Thomas Monaghan, founder of Domino’s Pizza, who now focuses on philanthropy and his faith:
Q: What role has your faith played in your financial success?
A: I wanted my faith to be the center of my life. I haven’t always done that, but I knew it was the right thing to do and what I should do. Hopefully, I’ve gotten a little better at it. The nuns taught us that honesty is the best policy. Many people think that the rich marry into money or steal it. I thought I could show that you can live by Christ’s teachings and be successful.
Q: Are successful business leaders who aren’t religious less honest, moral or effective?
A: Businessmen get a bum rap. Surveys show that the most religious profession is the military. Businessmen are No. 2. You’re not going to like this, but people in the media were at the bottom of the list.
Q: We’re at the bottom of a lot of lists these days. So, you have found that top executives are, generally, religious?
A: They are pretty straight arrows, good family people. The idea of cheating on my wife is unthinkable.
Q: Jesus said that it’s easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God. Have you thought that through?
A: The nuns told us that money was the root of all evil. But it’s the love of money that’s the root of all evil.
Money is neutral. It prints Bibles and pays for priests, hospitals, orphanages and soup kitchens.
Q: So, you live like Mother Teresa now?
A: I’m not living like a pauper, but I don’t engage in ostentatious things. I read the book Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis about 15 years ago, and that was a big turnaround. I decided to simplify my life. No more airplanes, no more yachts. It’s been a big relief.
Q: Do you advise others to do the same?
A: Wealthy or not, put God first. Pray to God to ask what is his will. Listen and follow.
Q: Which part of life has been more enjoyable: getting rich or giving it away?
A: I enjoyed Domino’s, but I don’t miss it at all. This is so much more fulfilling. I had to get rich to see being rich is not important. I always believed that intellectually. I had to experience it. I was brought up poor, and I was embarrassed by my threadbare clothes and holes in my shoes. I had to get that out of my system.
