Ambassador Bridge owner Matty Moroun climbs Forbes richest list
Moroun 556th richest, magazine says
In this 2006 file photo, Matty Moroun, owner of the Ambassador Bridge between Windsor, Ontario and Detroit, Michigan is all smiles as he donates $2 million to help the University of Windsor pay for its athletic stadium complex.
Photograph by: Jason Kryk/File Photo, The Windsor Star
WINDSOR, Ont. — With a net worth of $1.8 billion, Ambassador Bridge owner Matty Moroun is tied at 556th among the richest people in the world, according to the annual list released Thursday by Forbes magazine.
The 82-year-old transportation mogul, who resides in Grosse Pointe Shores, Mich., saw his net worth increase substantially from a year ago when hit by the economic downturn reduced his wealth to $1 billion -- tied at 701. In 2008, Moroun's net worth was listed by Forbes at $1.5 billion.
Moroun this year is tied at $1.8 billion with such notables as Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, 67, CNN founder Ted Turner, 71, Subway founders Peter Buck, 79, and Fred DeLuca, 62, FedEx founder Frederick Smith, 65, and William Randolph Hearst III, 60, the grandchild of newspaper baron William Randolph Hearst.
Officials at Moroun's company head office in Warren, Mich., declined comment on the Forbes rankings.
The business magazine, in a brief profile of Moroun, said the trucking tycoon is "battling Canadian government to maintain his priceless monopoly over the Detroit River border crossing. Owns Ambassador Bridge, conduit for 25 per cent of commerce between U.S. and Canada; bridge handles 8,000 trucks a day, $100 billion worth of goods each year."
It said Moroun is "scrambling to build second bridge before Canada builds its own. Filed lawsuit to block construction, claiming Canuck plan will displace minority residents in U.S. Ottawa reportedly considering a bid for Ambassador Bridge."
The secretive Moroun for decades has guarded his financial holdings behind an array of private companies, so his true wealth has always been difficult for Forbes and others to determine. A 2006 Windsor Star investigation revealed he owns a wide variety of businesses: insurance companies, logistics firms, railways, air cargo companies, constructions firms, about 25 real estate companies and dozens of trucking companies on both sides of the border.
His empire stretches to nearly every corner of the world with shipping connections in Australia, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, China and Japan. His trucking interests include companies and affiliates across the U.S., Canada and Mexico.
Americans Bill Gates and Warren Buffett have most often held the top two spots on the Forbes list, but this year Mexican tycoon Carlos Slim Helu, who amassed his fortune through telecom holdings, including America Movil, was named the wealthiest person with an estimated $53.5 billion -- up $18.5 billion since last year. Shares of America Movil are up 35 per cent in a year.
Microsoft owner Gates, who has held the title of world's richest 14 of the past 15 years, is now worth $53 billion at second -- up $13 billion from a year ago after shares of Microsoft rose 50 per cent in 12 months.
Buffett, in third this year, saw his net worth jump $10 billion to $47 billion on rising shares of his company Berkshire Hathaway.
David Thomson -- a major player in the world media market through Thomson Reuters -- is the top Canadian on the list at 20th with a net worth of $19 billion -- up considerably from $13 billion last year. Among the Thomson family's holdings are CTVglobemedia, The Globe and Mail and dozens of TV channels and radio stations.
Other noteworthy Michigan billionaires include Mike Ilitch, 80, and his family with a net worth of $1.5 billion with holdings that include Little Caesars pizza, MotorCity Casino, the Detroit Red Wings and Detroit Tigers. Also on the list are mall developer Alfred Taubman, 86, at $1.5 billion and auto tycoon Roger Penske, 73, at $1.3 billion.
This year's Forbes billionaires list includes 1,011 members, short of the record 1,125 in 2008.
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