$1 BILLION: “I used well what YOU gave ME”

… how he went from living in an orphanage to becoming one of the wealthiest men in the world

… was 4 years old when his father passed away on Christmas Eve

… his mother placed her two sons into St. Joseph’s Home for Boys, an orphanage

… “The orphanage was basically like a prison,”

… “50 boys, Polish nuns, very strict, very holy.”

… One of Monaghan’s daily tasks during his time in the orphanage was to clean the small chapel

… “I felt I was in a special place and I, of course, knew that Jesus was in the tabernacle up there,”

… After leaving the orphanage Monaghan joined the United States Marine Corps

… Once he finished his time with the Marines, he was looking for a job

… his brother gave him the idea to borrow a couple of hundred dollars to buy a pizzeria that was for sale

… “It was a hole in the wall,”

… to change the name from ‘Domi-Nick’s’ to ‘Domino’s’ 

… Over the next two decades, he redesigned the pizza box so that it would keep the pizza hotter for longer

… He decided to focus on takeaway and delivery

… he designed the conveyor belt pizza oven to cook the pizzas faster

… guarantee to customers that they would receive a hot pizza in 30 minutes or get their money back

… We were the fastest-growing restaurant chain in the history of the world

… In 1985 we opened 954 stores

… “In 1980 we had about 300 stores, in about 1986 we had about 5,000,”

… “I was going to Mass every day, practicing my faith, reading a lot of spiritual books”

… but I got into the toys; I justified the yachts, the airplanes

… until he read a book from C.S. Lewis

… and I thought, “that’s not what I want to be,”

… In 1988, Monaghan sold Domino’s Pizza for a reported one billion dollars

… With that money, he went on to build a church and Ave Maria University

… In addition to the church and university, he built an entire town called Ave Maria

… where young Catholics could study, live their faith with their families, and grow in community

… The area has its own neighborhoods, restaurants, bars, parks

… The university has over 1,200 students

… hopes that every student comes out “being a well-formed Catholic”

… “When I get to the pearly gates … I want to be able to say, ‘I used what you gave me well,’”