Manuel Moroun facts for kids

Manuel "Matty" Moroun (June 5, 1927 – July 12, 2020) was a very successful American businessman. He was best known as the owner of the Ambassador Bridge. This important bridge connects Detroit, Michigan, in the United States, with Windsor, Ontario, in Canada. Matty Moroun bought the bridge in 1979. It is one of the few border crossings between the U.S. and Canada that is owned by a private company.

The Ambassador Bridge is now worth a lot of money. Matty Moroun also owned CenTra Inc., which included a large trucking company called Central Transport. He also owned other trucking and logistics companies. For a time, he owned the Roosevelt Warehouse and the famous Michigan Central Station in Detroit. In 2018, these buildings were sold to the Ford Motor Company. In 2008, a magazine called Forbes listed Matty Moroun as one of the richest people in America.

Early Life and Family Business

Manuel Moroun was born in Detroit in 1927. His family came from Lebanon. His grandfather first moved to Canada before settling in Detroit after World War I ended. Matty grew up in Detroit with his three sisters.

His father owned two gas stations in Detroit. Matty worked there before and during high school. He went to the University of Detroit Jesuit High School. He once said that Jimmy Hoffa, a famous labor leader, was one of his customers.

In 1946, Matty's father bought Central Cartage Company. This company later became Central Transport. Matty started working with his father. While in college at the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana, Matty often traveled back to Detroit. He did this to help run the family business. He graduated in 1949 with a degree in chemistry and biology. He wanted to become a doctor, but he returned to Detroit to work at the family's service station. By the mid-1950s, Matty was in charge of most of his family's trucking business.

Owning the Ambassador Bridge

Matty Moroun bought the Ambassador Bridge in 1979. He bought shares of the bridge when they became available. The bridge was originally built by railroad companies.

In 2009, the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) had a disagreement with Moroun. They said he did not follow a contract to build ramps connecting the Ambassador Bridge to nearby freeways. These freeways were I-75 and I-96. This was part of a big construction plan called the Gateway Project. A judge ruled that Moroun and his company were not following the contract. The judge ordered them to fix the issue.

The United States and Canadian governments decided to build a new bridge. It is called the Gordie Howe International Bridge. This new bridge will also connect Detroit and Windsor. It will be built downriver from the Ambassador Bridge. The Canadian government is paying for the new bridge. All the money collected from tolls on the Gordie Howe bridge will go to Canada for 50 years. This is different from the Ambassador Bridge, where tolls are taxed by the U.S. and given to Detroit. Some people thought Moroun did not want the new bridge because it might reduce his profits.

Michigan Central Station

Matty Moroun owned Michigan Central Station from 1995 until 2018. Then, he sold it to the Ford Motor Company. People often criticized Moroun and his family for not taking care of the property. Over the years, the station fell into disrepair. This decay added to the look of "urban blight" in Detroit.

Personal Life

Matty Moroun married his wife, Nora, when he was 44 years old. They had one son named Matthew. Matthew later took over the family business after Matty retired. The family lived in Grosse Pointe Shores, Michigan.

One of Matty's sisters, Agnes, worked in the human resources department at CenTra Inc. His other two sisters, Victoria and Florence, had a legal dispute with him in 1992. They said he had not given them their fair share of their inheritance after their father passed away. This legal disagreement lasted for seven years. It ended in 1999 when Matty bought his sisters' shares in CenTra Inc. He later made up with them.

Matty Moroun passed away at his home on July 12, 2020. He was 93 years old.