Thomas Stephen Monaghan, commonly known as Tom Monaghan, is an American billionaire entrepreneur, philanthropist, and devout Catholic who founded Domino's Pizza in 1960. Born into challenging circumstances, Monaghan was orphaned at a young age and raised in Michigan orphanages before serving in the U.S. Marine Corps. After his military service, he purchased a small pizzeria in Ypsilanti, Michigan, with a $500 loan, transforming it into the global Domino's Pizza chain, which grew to over 6,000 locations by the time he sold his majority stake in 1998 for approximately $1 billion. Monaghan's business acumen extended to other ventures, including ownership of the Detroit Tigers baseball team from 1983 to 1992 and the development of Domino's Farms, an office park in Ann Arbor, Michigan, inspired by his admiration for architect Frank Lloyd Wright, whose artifacts he avidly collects. A committed conservative Catholic, Monaghan has channeled his wealth into philanthropy focused on advancing Christian values and education. He founded the Legatus organization in 1987 to support Catholic business leaders, the Thomas More Law Center in 1999 to promote Christian legal advocacy, and Ave Maria University in 2003, initially in Michigan and later relocated to Ave Maria, Florida, where he also developed a planned community. Monaghan's religious convictions have influenced his business decisions, such as enforcing conservative policies at Domino's and publicly opposing abortion and same-sex marriage. Despite his successes, he has faced controversies, including criticism for his strong-arm management style with franchisees and players during his Tigers ownership, as well as allegations of labor issues in his early pizza operations. Now in his 80s, Monaghan continues to reside primarily in Florida, dedicating his life to faith-based initiatives.