diff --git a/ci/scripts/matlab_build.sh b/ci/scripts/matlab_build.sh
index 235002da3afc6..d3f86adbb8a2b 100755
--- a/ci/scripts/matlab_build.sh
+++ b/ci/scripts/matlab_build.sh
@@ -29,8 +29,6 @@ cmake \
   -S ${source_dir} \
   -B ${build_dir} \
   -G Ninja \
-  -D MATLAB_BUILD_TESTS=ON \
   -D CMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=${install_dir} \
   -D MATLAB_ADD_INSTALL_DIR_TO_SEARCH_PATH=OFF
 cmake --build ${build_dir} --config Release --target install
-ctest --test-dir ${build_dir}
diff --git a/matlab/CMakeLists.txt b/matlab/CMakeLists.txt
index d73173b58e78a..c8100a389ace0 100644
--- a/matlab/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/matlab/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -17,9 +17,9 @@
 
 cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.20)
 
-# Build the Arrow C++ libraries.
+# Build the Arrow C++ libraries using ExternalProject_Add.
 function(build_arrow)
-  set(options BUILD_GTEST)
+  set(options)
   set(one_value_args)
   set(multi_value_args)
 
@@ -37,70 +37,50 @@ function(build_arrow)
   set(ARROW_CMAKE_ARGS "-DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=${ARROW_PREFIX}"
                        "-DCMAKE_INSTALL_LIBDIR=lib" "-DARROW_BUILD_STATIC=OFF")
 
-  if(Arrow_FOUND
-     AND NOT GTest_FOUND
-     AND ARG_BUILD_GTEST)
-    # If find_package has already found a valid Arrow installation, then
-    # we don't want to link against the Arrow libraries that will be built
-    # from source.
-    #
-    # However, we still need to create a library target to trigger building
-    # of the arrow_ep target, which will ultimately build the bundled
-    # GoogleTest binaries.
-    add_library(arrow_shared_for_gtest SHARED IMPORTED)
-    set(ARROW_LIBRARY_TARGET arrow_shared_for_gtest)
+  add_library(arrow_shared SHARED IMPORTED)
+  set(ARROW_LIBRARY_TARGET arrow_shared)
+
+  # Set the runtime shared library (.dll, .so, or .dylib)
+  if(WIN32)
+    # The shared library (i.e. .dll) is located in the "bin" directory.
+    set(ARROW_SHARED_LIBRARY_DIR "${ARROW_PREFIX}/bin")
   else()
-    add_library(arrow_shared SHARED IMPORTED)
-    set(ARROW_LIBRARY_TARGET arrow_shared)
-
-    # Set the runtime shared library (.dll, .so, or .dylib)
-    if(WIN32)
-      # The shared library (i.e. .dll) is located in the "bin" directory.
-      set(ARROW_SHARED_LIBRARY_DIR "${ARROW_PREFIX}/bin")
-    else()
-      # The shared library (i.e. .so or .dylib) is located in the "lib" directory.
-      set(ARROW_SHARED_LIBRARY_DIR "${ARROW_PREFIX}/lib")
-    endif()
-
-    set(ARROW_SHARED_LIB_FILENAME
-        "${CMAKE_SHARED_LIBRARY_PREFIX}arrow${CMAKE_SHARED_LIBRARY_SUFFIX}")
-    set(ARROW_SHARED_LIB "${ARROW_SHARED_LIBRARY_DIR}/${ARROW_SHARED_LIB_FILENAME}")
-
-    set_target_properties(arrow_shared PROPERTIES IMPORTED_LOCATION ${ARROW_SHARED_LIB})
-
-    # Set the link-time import library (.lib)
-    if(WIN32)
-      # The import library (i.e. .lib) is located in the "lib" directory.
-      set(ARROW_IMPORT_LIB_FILENAME
-          "${CMAKE_IMPORT_LIBRARY_PREFIX}arrow${CMAKE_IMPORT_LIBRARY_SUFFIX}")
-      set(ARROW_IMPORT_LIB "${ARROW_PREFIX}/lib/${ARROW_IMPORT_LIB_FILENAME}")
-
-      set_target_properties(arrow_shared PROPERTIES IMPORTED_IMPLIB ${ARROW_IMPORT_LIB})
-    endif()
-
-    # Set the include directories
-    set(ARROW_INCLUDE_DIR "${ARROW_PREFIX}/include")
-    file(MAKE_DIRECTORY "${ARROW_INCLUDE_DIR}")
-    set_target_properties(arrow_shared PROPERTIES INTERFACE_INCLUDE_DIRECTORIES
-                                                  ${ARROW_INCLUDE_DIR})
-
-    # Set the build byproducts for the ExternalProject build
-    # The appropriate libraries need to be guaranteed to be available when linking the test
-    # executables.
-    if(WIN32)
-      set(ARROW_BUILD_BYPRODUCTS "${ARROW_IMPORT_LIB}")
-    else()
-      set(ARROW_BUILD_BYPRODUCTS "${ARROW_SHARED_LIB}")
-    endif()
+    # The shared library (i.e. .so or .dylib) is located in the "lib" directory.
+    set(ARROW_SHARED_LIBRARY_DIR "${ARROW_PREFIX}/lib")
   endif()
 
-  # Building the Arrow C++ libraries and bundled GoogleTest binaries requires ExternalProject.
-  include(ExternalProject)
+  set(ARROW_SHARED_LIB_FILENAME
+      "${CMAKE_SHARED_LIBRARY_PREFIX}arrow${CMAKE_SHARED_LIBRARY_SUFFIX}")
+  set(ARROW_SHARED_LIB "${ARROW_SHARED_LIBRARY_DIR}/${ARROW_SHARED_LIB_FILENAME}")
+
+  set_target_properties(arrow_shared PROPERTIES IMPORTED_LOCATION ${ARROW_SHARED_LIB})
+
+  # Set the link-time import library (.lib)
+  if(WIN32)
+    # The import library (i.e. .lib) is located in the "lib" directory.
+    set(ARROW_IMPORT_LIB_FILENAME
+        "${CMAKE_IMPORT_LIBRARY_PREFIX}arrow${CMAKE_IMPORT_LIBRARY_SUFFIX}")
+    set(ARROW_IMPORT_LIB "${ARROW_PREFIX}/lib/${ARROW_IMPORT_LIB_FILENAME}")
 
-  if(ARG_BUILD_GTEST)
-    enable_gtest()
+    set_target_properties(arrow_shared PROPERTIES IMPORTED_IMPLIB ${ARROW_IMPORT_LIB})
   endif()
 
+  # Set the include directories
+  set(ARROW_INCLUDE_DIR "${ARROW_PREFIX}/include")
+  file(MAKE_DIRECTORY "${ARROW_INCLUDE_DIR}")
+  set_target_properties(arrow_shared PROPERTIES INTERFACE_INCLUDE_DIRECTORIES
+                                                ${ARROW_INCLUDE_DIR})
+
+  # Set the build byproducts for the ExternalProject build
+  if(WIN32)
+    set(ARROW_BUILD_BYPRODUCTS "${ARROW_IMPORT_LIB}")
+  else()
+    set(ARROW_BUILD_BYPRODUCTS "${ARROW_SHARED_LIB}")
+  endif()
+
+  # Building the Arrow C++ libraries requires ExternalProject.
+  include(ExternalProject)
+
   externalproject_add(arrow_ep
                       SOURCE_DIR "${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/../cpp"
                       BINARY_DIR "${ARROW_BINARY_DIR}"
@@ -109,69 +89,8 @@ function(build_arrow)
 
   add_dependencies(${ARROW_LIBRARY_TARGET} arrow_ep)
 
-  if(ARG_BUILD_GTEST)
-    build_gtest()
-  endif()
 endfunction()
 
-macro(enable_gtest)
-  set(ARROW_GTEST_INCLUDE_DIR "${ARROW_PREFIX}/include/arrow-gtest")
-
-  set(ARROW_GTEST_IMPORT_LIB_DIR "${ARROW_PREFIX}/lib")
-  if(WIN32)
-    set(ARROW_GTEST_SHARED_LIB_DIR "${ARROW_PREFIX}/bin")
-  else()
-    set(ARROW_GTEST_SHARED_LIB_DIR "${ARROW_PREFIX}/lib")
-  endif()
-  set(ARROW_GTEST_IMPORT_LIB
-      "${ARROW_GTEST_IMPORT_LIB_DIR}/${CMAKE_IMPORT_LIBRARY_PREFIX}arrow_gtest${CMAKE_IMPORT_LIBRARY_SUFFIX}"
-  )
-  set(ARROW_GTEST_MAIN_IMPORT_LIB
-      "${ARROW_GTEST_IMPORT_LIB_DIR}/${CMAKE_IMPORT_LIBRARY_PREFIX}arrow_gtest_main${CMAKE_IMPORT_LIBRARY_SUFFIX}"
-  )
-  set(ARROW_GTEST_SHARED_LIB
-      "${ARROW_GTEST_SHARED_LIB_DIR}/${CMAKE_SHARED_LIBRARY_PREFIX}arrow_gtest${CMAKE_SHARED_LIBRARY_SUFFIX}"
-  )
-  set(ARROW_GTEST_MAIN_SHARED_LIB
-      "${ARROW_GTEST_SHARED_LIB_DIR}/${CMAKE_SHARED_LIBRARY_PREFIX}arrow_gtest_main${CMAKE_SHARED_LIBRARY_SUFFIX}"
-  )
-
-  list(APPEND ARROW_CMAKE_ARGS "-DARROW_BUILD_TESTS=ON")
-
-  # The appropriate libraries need to be guaranteed to be available when linking the test
-  # executables.
-  if(WIN32)
-    # On Windows, add the gtest link libraries as BUILD_BYPRODUCTS for arrow_ep.
-    list(APPEND ARROW_BUILD_BYPRODUCTS "${ARROW_GTEST_IMPORT_LIB}"
-         "${ARROW_GTEST_MAIN_IMPORT_LIB}")
-  else()
-    # On Linux and macOS, add the gtest shared libraries as BUILD_BYPRODUCTS for arrow_ep.
-    list(APPEND ARROW_BUILD_BYPRODUCTS "${ARROW_GTEST_SHARED_LIB}"
-         "${ARROW_GTEST_MAIN_SHARED_LIB}")
-  endif()
-endmacro()
-
-# Build the GoogleTest binaries that are bundled with the Arrow C++ libraries.
-macro(build_gtest)
-  file(MAKE_DIRECTORY "${ARROW_GTEST_INCLUDE_DIR}")
-
-  # Create target GTest::gtest
-  add_library(GTest::gtest SHARED IMPORTED)
-  set_target_properties(GTest::gtest
-                        PROPERTIES IMPORTED_IMPLIB ${ARROW_GTEST_IMPORT_LIB}
-                                   IMPORTED_LOCATION ${ARROW_GTEST_SHARED_LIB}
-                                   INTERFACE_INCLUDE_DIRECTORIES
-                                   ${ARROW_GTEST_INCLUDE_DIR})
-  add_dependencies(GTest::gtest arrow_ep)
-
-  # Create target GTest::gtest_main
-  add_library(GTest::gtest_main SHARED IMPORTED)
-  set_target_properties(GTest::gtest_main
-                        PROPERTIES IMPORTED_IMPLIB ${ARROW_GTEST_MAIN_IMPORT_LIB}
-                                   IMPORTED_LOCATION ${ARROW_GTEST_MAIN_SHARED_LIB})
-  add_dependencies(GTest::gtest_main arrow_ep)
-endmacro()
-
 set(CMAKE_CXX_STANDARD 17)
 
 set(MLARROW_VERSION "14.0.0-SNAPSHOT")
@@ -185,8 +104,6 @@ if(WIN32)
   set(CMAKE_MSVC_RUNTIME_LIBRARY "MultiThreadedDLL")
 endif()
 
-option(MATLAB_BUILD_TESTS "Build the C++ tests for the MATLAB interface" OFF)
-
 # Add tools/cmake directory to the CMAKE_MODULE_PATH.
 list(PREPEND CMAKE_MODULE_PATH ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/tools/cmake)
 
@@ -208,56 +125,9 @@ else()
   set(MATLAB_BUILD_OUTPUT_DIR "${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}")
 endif()
 
-# Only build the MATLAB interface C++ tests if MATLAB_BUILD_TESTS=ON.
-if(MATLAB_BUILD_TESTS)
-  # find_package(GTest) supports custom GTEST_ROOT as well as package managers.
-  find_package(GTest)
-
-  if(NOT GTest_FOUND)
-    # find_package(Arrow) supports custom ARROW_HOME as well as package
-    # managers.
-    find_package(Arrow QUIET)
-    # Trigger an automatic build of the Arrow C++ libraries and bundled
-    # GoogleTest binaries. If a valid Arrow installation was not already
-    # found by find_package, then build_arrow will use the Arrow
-    # C++ libraries that are built from source.
-    build_arrow(BUILD_GTEST)
-  else()
-    # On Windows, IMPORTED_LOCATION needs to be set to indicate where the shared
-    # libraries live when GTest is found.
-    if(WIN32)
-      set(GTEST_SHARED_LIB_DIR "${GTEST_ROOT}/bin")
-      set(GTEST_SHARED_LIBRARY_FILENAME
-          "${CMAKE_SHARED_LIBRARY_PREFIX}gtest${CMAKE_SHARED_LIBRARY_SUFFIX}")
-      set(GTEST_SHARED_LIBRARY_LIB
-          "${GTEST_SHARED_LIB_DIR}/${GTEST_SHARED_LIBRARY_FILENAME}")
-
-      set(GTEST_MAIN_SHARED_LIB_DIR "${GTEST_ROOT}/bin")
-      set(GTEST_MAIN_SHARED_LIBRARY_FILENAME
-          "${CMAKE_SHARED_LIBRARY_PREFIX}gtest_main${CMAKE_SHARED_LIBRARY_SUFFIX}")
-      set(GTEST_MAIN_SHARED_LIBRARY_LIB
-          "${GTEST_MAIN_SHARED_LIB_DIR}/${GTEST_MAIN_SHARED_LIBRARY_FILENAME}")
-
-      set_target_properties(GTest::gtest PROPERTIES IMPORTED_LOCATION
-                                                    "${GTEST_SHARED_LIBRARY_LIB}")
-
-      set_target_properties(GTest::gtest_main
-                            PROPERTIES IMPORTED_LOCATION
-                                       "${GTEST_MAIN_SHARED_LIBRARY_LIB}")
-    endif()
-
-    find_package(Arrow QUIET)
-    if(NOT Arrow_FOUND)
-      # Trigger an automatic build of the Arrow C++ libraries.
-      build_arrow()
-    endif()
-  endif()
-
-else()
-  find_package(Arrow QUIET)
-  if(NOT Arrow_FOUND)
-    build_arrow()
-  endif()
+find_package(Arrow QUIET)
+if(NOT Arrow_FOUND)
+  build_arrow()
 endif()
 
 # MATLAB is Required
@@ -311,56 +181,6 @@ else()
   message(STATUS "ARROW_INCLUDE_DIR: ${ARROW_INCLUDE_DIR}")
 endif()
 
-# ##############################################################################
-# C++ Tests
-# ##############################################################################
-# Only build the C++ tests if MATLAB_BUILD_TESTS=ON.
-if(MATLAB_BUILD_TESTS)
-  enable_testing()
-
-  # Define a test executable target. TODO: Remove the placeholder test. This is
-  # just for testing GoogleTest integration.
-  add_executable(placeholder_test ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/src/placeholder_test.cc)
-
-  # Declare a dependency on the GTest::gtest and GTest::gtest_main IMPORTED
-  # targets.
-  target_link_libraries(placeholder_test GTest::gtest GTest::gtest_main)
-
-  # Ensure using GTest:gtest and GTest::gtest_main on macOS without
-  # specifying DYLD_LIBRARY_DIR.
-  set_target_properties(placeholder_test
-                        PROPERTIES BUILD_RPATH
-                                   "$<TARGET_FILE_DIR:GTest::gtest>;$<TARGET_FILE_DIR:GTest::gtest_main>"
-  )
-
-  # Add test targets for C++ tests.
-  add_test(PlaceholderTestTarget placeholder_test)
-
-  # On Windows:
-  # Add the directory of gtest.dll and gtest_main.dll to the %PATH% for running
-  # all tests.
-  # Add the directory of libmx.dll, libmex.dll, and libarrow.dll to the %PATH% for running
-  # CheckNumArgsTestTarget.
-  # Note: When appending to the path using set_test_properties' ENVIRONMENT property,
-  #       make sure that we escape ';' to prevent CMake from interpreting the input as
-  #       a list of strings.
-  if(WIN32)
-    get_target_property(GTEST_SHARED_LIB GTest::gtest IMPORTED_LOCATION)
-    get_filename_component(GTEST_SHARED_LIB_DIR ${GTEST_SHARED_LIB} DIRECTORY)
-
-    get_target_property(GTEST_MAIN_SHARED_LIB GTest::gtest_main IMPORTED_LOCATION)
-    get_filename_component(GTEST_MAIN_SHARED_LIB_DIR ${GTEST_MAIN_SHARED_LIB} DIRECTORY)
-
-    set_tests_properties(PlaceholderTestTarget
-                         PROPERTIES ENVIRONMENT
-                                    "PATH=${GTEST_SHARED_LIB_DIR}\;${GTEST_MAIN_SHARED_LIB_DIR}\;$ENV{PATH}"
-    )
-
-    get_target_property(ARROW_SHARED_LIB arrow_shared IMPORTED_LOCATION)
-    get_filename_component(ARROW_SHARED_LIB_DIR ${ARROW_SHARED_LIB} DIRECTORY)
-  endif()
-endif()
-
 # ##############################################################################
 # Install
 # ##############################################################################
diff --git a/matlab/README.md b/matlab/README.md
index d6b08fbee1c15..0a2bdf01f465f 100644
--- a/matlab/README.md
+++ b/matlab/README.md
@@ -100,31 +100,12 @@ As part of the install step, the installation directory is added to the [MATLAB
 
 ## Test
 
-There are two kinds of tests for the MATLAB Interface: MATLAB and C++. 
-
-### MATLAB
-
 To run the MATLAB tests, start MATLAB in the `arrow/matlab` directory and call the [`runtests`](https://mathworks.com/help/matlab/ref/runtests.html) command on the `test` directory with `IncludeSubFolders=true`:
 
 ``` matlab
 >> runtests("test", IncludeSubFolders=true);
 ```
 
-### C++
-
-To enable the C++ tests, set the `MATLAB_BUILD_TESTS` flag to `ON` at build time: 
-
-```console
-$ cmake -S . -B build -D MATLAB_BUILD_TESTS=ON
-$ cmake --build build --config Release
-```
-
-After building with the `MATLAB_BUILD_TESTS` flag enabled, the C++ tests can be run using [CTest](https://cmake.org/cmake/help/latest/manual/ctest.1.html):
-
-```console
-$ ctest --test-dir build
-```
-
 ## Usage
 
 Included below are some example code snippets that illustrate how to use the MATLAB interface.
diff --git a/matlab/doc/matlab_interface_for_apache_arrow_design.md b/matlab/doc/matlab_interface_for_apache_arrow_design.md
index 79b43fd02518b..17c7ba254c0ea 100644
--- a/matlab/doc/matlab_interface_for_apache_arrow_design.md
+++ b/matlab/doc/matlab_interface_for_apache_arrow_design.md
@@ -257,14 +257,13 @@ For large tables used in a multi-process "data processing pipeline", a user coul
 
 ## Testing 
 To ensure code quality, we would like to include the following testing infrastructure, at a minimum: 
-1. C++ APIs 
-   - GoogleTest C++ Unit Tests 
-   - Integration with CI workflows 
-2. MATLAB APIs  
-   - [MATLAB Class-Based Unit Tests] 
-   - Integration with CI workflows 
+
+1. [MATLAB Class-Based Unit Tests]
+2. [MATLAB CI Workflows]
 3. [Integration Testing]
 
+**Note**: To test internal C++ code, we can use a [MEX function] to call the C++ code from a MATLAB Class-Based Unit Test.
+
 ## Documentation 
 To ensure usability, discoverability, and accessibility, we would like to include high quality documentation for the MATLAB Interface for Apache Arrow. 
 
@@ -318,3 +317,4 @@ The table below provides a high-level roadmap for the development of specific ca
 [`apache-arrow` package via the `npm` package manager]: https://www.npmjs.com/package/apache-arrow
 [Rust user]: https://github.com/apache/arrow-rs
 [`arrow` crate via the `cargo` package manager]: https://crates.io/crates/arrow
+[MATLAB CI Workflows]: https://github.com/apache/arrow/actions/workflows/matlab.yml
diff --git a/matlab/src/placeholder_test.cc b/matlab/src/placeholder_test.cc
deleted file mode 100644
index eef37e178f623..0000000000000
--- a/matlab/src/placeholder_test.cc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,27 +0,0 @@
-// Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one
-// or more contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file
-// distributed with this work for additional information
-// regarding copyright ownership.  The ASF licenses this file
-// to you under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the
-// "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance
-// with the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
-//
-//   http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
-//
-// Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing,
-// software distributed under the License is distributed on an
-// "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY
-// KIND, either express or implied.  See the License for the
-// specific language governing permissions and limitations
-// under the License.
-
-#include <gtest/gtest.h>
-
-namespace arrow {
-namespace matlab {
-namespace test {
-// TODO: Remove this placeholder test.
-TEST(PlaceholderTestSuite, PlaceholderTestCase) { ASSERT_TRUE(true); }
-}  // namespace test
-}  // namespace matlab
-}  // namespace arrow