Philanthropist and Entrepreneur Johnny Buhler Was 91
By Geoff Kirbyson
ANITOBA lost a business legend who spent his career building his wealth and his retirement giving it away when Johnny Buhler died in December.
The 91-year-old turned the purchase of a single company in 1969 – Standard Engine Gas Works in Morden – into a manufacturing empire.
He immediately renamed it Farm King Ltd. and a quarter of a century later, he formed Buhler Industries. He then bought Canada’s last remaining tractor-manufacturing plant, rechristening it Buhler Versatile, in 2000.
He is survived by his wife of 39 years, Bonnie, his brother Jake, five children and 10 grandchildren.
Buhler never claimed to be the smartest entrepreneur in the world but you wouldn’t dare question his business IQ.
“My whole success was based on utilizing the talents of people who are a lot smarter than I am,” he said several years ago.
“I always wanted to build farm machinery and had this dream of building a tractor, so it all fit in with my long-term dream. I bought this factory in Morden and expanded. We grew very slowly and steadily,” he says.
He completed his nearly four-decade manufacturing run in 2007 when he sold his majority stake to Russia’s Rostselmash Ltd. The group had earlier made a number of attempts to buy the company but each time Buhler rebuked them, saying it wasn’t for sale. He meant it, too. Until they offered him $195 million cash.
“I choked and gave a very feeble response after my wife was kicking me under the table. That was it,” he said.
“Then these Russians who needed an interpreter (during the negotiations) were suddenly able to write a memorandum of understanding in perfect English.”
Buhler was a member of the Manitoba Business Hall of Fame and the Order of Canada.
During his induction MBHOF induction speech in 2014, he told the black tie crowd about informing Bonnie of his upcoming honour.
“Did you ever in your wildest dreams think that I’d be inducted into the Manitoba Business Hall of Fame?” he asked her.
“What makes you think you’re in my wildest dreams?” she replied.
The Buhlers have donated many millions of dollars to worthy causes in Manitoba, including Seven Oaks Hospital, St. Amant Centre, St. Boniface Hospital & Research Foundation, the Canadian Museum for Human Rights, Red River College and the University of Winnipeg.
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