Career
Willmot was the President and Chief Executive Officer of Anthes Imperial Company Limited., a diversified Canadian public company he joined in 1949 that owned a number of businesses including those involved in construction equipment rental, steel materials, office furniture and supplies, and public warehousing. The company would be acquired by Molson Industries, Limited. in 1968.
Willmot was appointed Chairman of Molson and oversaw a series of successful acquisitions in the early 1970s.
In his 1975 landmark book, The Canadian Establishment, author Peter Newman quoted (p 145) Willmot"s opposition to the Federal Government"s plan to create the Canada Pension Plan stating that it was a threat to Canada"s free enterprise system. He was inducted into the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame in 1991.
In 1984, Willmot lost out in the bidding to Jack Kent Cooke in an attempt to buy the prestigious Elmendorf Farm near Lexington, Kentucky from the estate of Maxwell H. Gluck. Although planning to remain in racing, on November 7, 1988, Kinghaven held a dispersal sale of its breeding stock.
In 1989 he was given an honorary Doctor of Laws from Brock University in Saint Catharines, Ontario.
He was a benefactor to a number of charities including Brock University that annually awards the "Doctor Doctorate.G (Bud) Willmot Scholarship in Business." Each fall and spring, the university conducts the "Willmot Distinguished Lecture Series."
After battling cancer for six mionths, Bud Willmot died on January 31, 1994. Two days later his widow, Ivy Willmot, also died of cancer.
