He was a famous breeder of Thoroughbred race horses, and a major force behind the evolution of the Canadian horse-racing industry.
[4] While studying at McGill, Taylor patented an electric toaster design that browned both sides of the bread simultaneously.
[5] Taylor decided during college that he did not want to pursue engineering, finding that he was more interested in business and economics.
[9] Taylor's grandfather Charles Magee was a successful businessman in Ottawa, holding interests in brewing, dry goods, and transportation.
[11] On the side of selling securities and the brewing business, Taylor organized the Red Line Taxi Company in 1923.
[13] In 1928, Taylor and Winifred moved to Toronto, getting an apartment on University Avenue, conveniently close to the McLeod, Young, Weir offices in the Metropolitan Building.
[18] The two incorporated a new firm, Brewing Corporation of Ontario, merging the Brading and Kuntz breweries and the British interests in common and preferred shares.
At times, he was so cash poor that a legend had him passing cheques back and forth between two bank accounts in Montreal and Toronto to meet payroll.
After 1934, Taylor implemented a number of changes to make the brewing sales and marketing respectable, firing the old school "runners" who profited by selling to bootleggers, and replacing them with salesmen who were encouraged to become community leaders.
Unable to spin off the soft drinks at first, Taylor first worked on building them into a business suitable for sale.
At war's end, he founded Argus Corporation, becoming the investment company's majority shareholder by rolling Canadian Breweries stock into the new entity.
Over the years, he gained control or had significant positions in many of his country's largest companies such as Canadian Food Products, Massey-Harris, Standard Chemical, Dominion Stores, British Columbia Forest Products Limited, Dominion Tar & Chemical Co., Standard Broadcasting, and Hollinger Mines.
According to Maclean's Magazine, he owned 5/17 of Argus Corp.'s common stock at the time, giving him effective control of the company.
Through the series of ownership shares, Taylor effectively controlled Dominion Tar even though his personal interest in the voting stock amounted to only about 4%.
[20] Taylor traveled extensively to manage his sprawling business interests, flying each month to the Cleveland headquarters of his Brewing Corporation of America.
From there, he headed to New York, where he spent much of his time associating with Floyd Odlum of Atlas Corporation, an investment company that served as the prototype for Argus.
[20] In 1948, Taylor and a small group of fellow alumni established the McGill University Alma Mater Fund, inviting all graduates to give annual donations and thereby "make of themselves a living endowment.
In 1957, the Bahamian government passed the Lyford Cay Development Company, Limited, Agreement and Road Diversion Act 1957 providing for the development of land in western New Providence, by the company and Taylor, and the diversion of West Bay Street to accommodate it.
[24] While a student at Montreal's McGill University in 1918, Taylor was introduced to the sport of thoroughbred horse racing at Blue Bonnets Raceway.
"We had too many tracks... our patronage was falling, we had low purses and many bad horses, and I was afraid that racing might die here as it did in Quebec."
[26] New Woodbine developed into a world-class venue, especially when Taylor convinced Penny Chenery to have Secretariat make his final start in the Canadian International in 1973.
[27] Taylor was the founder of the Jockey Club of Canada and served as the president of the Thoroughbred Racing Association in the United States.
Determined to raise the standard of Canadian breeding stock, Taylor imported several stallions from the United States.
[25][26][29] Windfields Estate was Taylor's main residence and was situated at 2489 Bayview Avenue in North York, Toronto.