Thomas Moorehead, Pioneering Entrepreneur
Thomas Allen Moorehead, born on April 21, 1944, in Monroe, Louisiana, is a pioneering entrepreneur, philanthropist, and leader in the luxury automobile industry. Raised by his mother, Minnie Mae Thomas, he is the eldest of five siblings. Moorehead’s early life in the segregated South shaped his ambition and resilience, traits that would guide his remarkable journey from humble beginnings to national prominence.
Moorehead graduated from Carroll High School in 1962. That same year, he bought his first car, a used Plymouth for $35, from a junkyard. He enrolled at Grambling State College (now Grambling State University), a Louisiana HBCU, earning a Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration in 1966. While there he joined Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc. After college, Moorehead briefly took classes in Wayne State University’s MBA program and worked at the Mobil Corporation. From 1969 to 1970, he was a systems analyst at Chrysler Corporation. He later earned a Master of Social Work degree from the University of Michigan in 1971 and began a Ph. D in urban and regional planning, conducting research in Copenhagen, Denmark. While at the University, he served as a field instructor and Director of Community Services in the School of Social Work until 1983.
Moorehead’s path shifted dramatically in the mid-1980s. After working as a car sales consultant, he entered the General Motors Dealer Training Program in 1985. Two years later, he opened his first dealership, Moorehead Sentry Buick Isuzu, in Omaha, Nebraska. This marked the beginning of a groundbreaking career in the automotive industry.
He would later own one of the most successful minority-owned BMW and MINI Cooper dealerships in the country, located in Sterling, Virginia. Under his leadership, Sterling Motorcars expanded across the Mid-Atlantic region, with multiple locations in Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, and Pennsylvania. His achievements were recognized by the National Association of Minority Automobile Dealers (NAMAD), and by 2018, Sterling Motorcars generated over $623 million in annual revenue. Moorehead invested $25 million to upgrade the dealership’s facilities, solidifying its position in the luxury market.
Beyond BMW, Moorehead made history as the first African American to own dealerships for Rolls-Royce (2013), Lamborghini (2016), and McLaren, joining a rare class of elite international luxury car dealers. He also acquired a Harley-Davidson dealership in 2014. In 2001, he founded Moorehead Properties, Inc. and in 2007, became the first African American to own a Marriott Residence Inn at National Harbor Resort and Convention Center in Maryland. He has invested in 43 hotels across the country and recently purchased a Harley Davidson dealership.
The focus, he says, should always be on the customer; he’s been known to send homemade coffee cakes to clients whenever the dealership makes even a minor error.
“I don’t want to see a frown on your face when you walk out of here,” he says. “The boss in the store is not Tom Moorehead, it’s his customer. If we lose sight of that, we might as well close our doors.”
When he’s not working hard to make “the boss” happy, Moorehead spends time with his two children and works with his wife Joyce, a former attorney, on their foundation, which provides scholarships to students in their junior and senior years of college. Moorehead also served as chairman of the board of the National Association of Minority Auto Dealers.
But even now, after far exceeding that million-dollar goal his mentor promised years ago, the humble Southerner doesn’t drive a Rolls-Royce, although his wife did surprise him with one for Christmas a few years back. “I told her, I can’t drive that,” he says. “For me, a young fellow out of Monroe, Louisiana, I really don’t get caught up on what I drive.” (Article Compiled with contributions by Otis Alexander; Washington Life)