When telling the story of Manuel “Matty” Moroun, it’s nearly impossible not to tell a story about Detroit and some of its history. And like Detroit, Moroun might be a little old-fashioned, but certainly never dull. He is the owner of the Ambassador Bridge, and a man who rarely speaks to the press. While he’s viewed as an adversary by some and an example of the American dream come true by others, in reality Moroun’s early years were not unlike those of many growing up in Detroit in the 1920s and ’30s. A Detroit-Windsor landmark (and one of the busiest crossings between Canada and the U.S.), the Ambassador Bridge is also one of the only privately owned international border points. “My grandfather came from Lebanon and my dad was born in Buenos Aires,” says Moroun, sitting in a wood-paneled conference room at his spacious company headquarters in Warren, Mich. “My mom was also from Lebanon, but we think she was born in Cuba. The U.S. was always the magnet and that’s why they wanted to get here.” His parents, Tufick (who went by Thomas) and Jamal, were married in Detroit where Matty was born, on June 5, 1927. Growing up on Detroit’s east side with his three sisters and parents, Moroun attended Our Lady of Help elementary school, graduating from University of Detroit Jesuit High School and continuing his education at University of Notre Dame, where he earned a bachelor of science degree in chemistry in 1949. “I wanted to be a doctor, so I was a pre-med student,” says Mouron. “I had an uncle-”my dad’s brother-”who was a doctor and the family looked up to him and rightly so.” Still intent on a medical career after graduating from Notre Dame, Moroun attended University of Michigan. He tried to gain admittance to the medical school, but was unsuccessful. That’s not to say, however, that Moroun wasn’t getting a leg up on a career.His father ran two gas stations in Detroit and like many owners of a family business, didn’t hesitate to tap his son-”who by then hadn’t even started high school-”to pitch in.And the work would continue, even as Moroun studied at the University of Notre Dame.
Riding the train on the weekends between Detroit and Notre Dame in Sound Bend, Ind., Moroun would come home to put in hours at the family business-”one that would soon take a new turn. In 1946, during Matty’s sophomore year, his dad bought the Central Cartage Company from its two owners, probably due to the fact that they owed him money. The company went through several evolutions to become what is known today as Central Transport, headquartered in Warren, Mich. According to the company Web site, Central Transport is a full-service, transportation services provider offering supply chain solutions across North America and is part of a group of transportation-related companies owned by privately-held CenTra, Inc., in turn owned by Moroun and his son, Matthew and ranked by Forbes as among the largest 500 private companies in America. “My dad needed my presence there. I didn’t know anything, but I could understand the jargon, so I ran the Central Cartage Company,” recalls Moroun. As a U-M graduate student, Moroun would work at Central Cartage for nine hours, driving back and forth between Ann Arbor and Detroit on a predecessor to I-94, the “Bomber Expressway,” which linked Ford’s Willow Run plant to its Rouge operations. Although Moroun will readily admit he worked a lot growing up, he doesn’t harbor any resentment.Completed in 1929, the Ambassador Bridge came about through the efforts of native Detroiter and New York City financier Joseph A. Bower. Timing, however, is everything and the opening of what was at the time the world’s longest suspension bridge had been preceded by just a few weeks by the stock market crash, quickly followed by the Great Depression and a year later, the opening of the Detroit-Windsor Tunnel. “The bridge was on the New York Stock Exchange and shares were traded. So, we bought a few shares. [In the 1970s] Warren Buffett was going to buy the bridge and he put out tender offer for more than the current stock price,” says Moroun. “We made a calculated decision to bid against the tender and said we’d buy any shares that were available right now. A lot of people who had tendered their shares withdrew them so they could get their money right away. That technique was successful. So I bought 24 percent of the shares, Warren got 25 percent and then there were holdouts.” Buffett’s right hand man, Charlie Munger, contacted Moroun, offering an opportunity to buy Buffett’s shares. This move, along with the Moroun’s purchase of the remaining shares, led to the July 31, 1979 purchase by Central Cartage Company of the Ambassador Bridge, which is owned and operated by the Detroit International Bridge Company.
Riding the train on the weekends between Detroit and Notre Dame in Sound Bend, Ind., Moroun would come home to put in hours at the family business-”one that would soon take a new turn. In 1946, during Matty’s sophomore year, his dad bought the Central Cartage Company from its two owners, probably due to the fact that they owed him money. The company went through several evolutions to become what is known today as Central Transport, headquartered in Warren, Mich. According to the company Web site, Central Transport is a full-service, transportation services provider offering supply chain solutions across North America and is part of a group of transportation-related companies owned by privately-held CenTra, Inc., in turn owned by Moroun and his son, Matthew and ranked by Forbes as among the largest 500 private companies in America. “My dad needed my presence there. I didn’t know anything, but I could understand the jargon, so I ran the Central Cartage Company,” recalls Moroun. As a U-M graduate student, Moroun would work at Central Cartage for nine hours, driving back and forth between Ann Arbor and Detroit on a predecessor to I-94, the “Bomber Expressway,” which linked Ford’s Willow Run plant to its Rouge operations. Although Moroun will readily admit he worked a lot growing up, he doesn’t harbor any resentment.Completed in 1929, the Ambassador Bridge came about through the efforts of native Detroiter and New York City financier Joseph A. Bower. Timing, however, is everything and the opening of what was at the time the world’s longest suspension bridge had been preceded by just a few weeks by the stock market crash, quickly followed by the Great Depression and a year later, the opening of the Detroit-Windsor Tunnel. “The bridge was on the New York Stock Exchange and shares were traded. So, we bought a few shares. [In the 1970s] Warren Buffett was going to buy the bridge and he put out tender offer for more than the current stock price,” says Moroun. “We made a calculated decision to bid against the tender and said we’d buy any shares that were available right now. A lot of people who had tendered their shares withdrew them so they could get their money right away. That technique was successful. So I bought 24 percent of the shares, Warren got 25 percent and then there were holdouts.” Buffett’s right hand man, Charlie Munger, contacted Moroun, offering an opportunity to buy Buffett’s shares. This move, along with the Moroun’s purchase of the remaining shares, led to the July 31, 1979 purchase by Central Cartage Company of the Ambassador Bridge, which is owned and operated by the Detroit International Bridge Company.
Moroun's private office has walls covered with photos, including Moroun with the Stanley Cup in 2008, while other black and white images date back to his father Thomas’ childhood. He proudly shows off a portrait of his son Matthew as a child sitting with Matty and Thomas, who died in 1991. “Some don’t care that much about families, but I do. I’m very nostalgic.” Perhaps his strong affinity to two historic structures in his native Detroit keeps Moroun’s connection with his past and family vibrant. Whatever the case, it appears the Moroun family will continue to play a key role in Detroit and Michigan for many years to come.
