Founder of Busch Group dies aged 96
The Busch Group, one of the world’s largest manufacturers of vacuum pumps, vacuum systems, blowers, compressors and gas abatement systems, has announced that its its co-founder and co-owner Karl Busch died at the age of 96 on July 17, 2025.
The engineer, inventor and entrepreneur was born on April 20, 1929, in Lörrach, Baden-Württemberg, and grew up in Zell im Wiesental. In 1949, he began his mechanical engineering studies at the Technical University of Munich (TUM). There, he met Ayhan Gökay, who would later become his wife.
In 1960, he completed his doctorate on the topic of friction and wear in water-lubricated rotary compressors.
In 1963, together with his wife Ayhan, he founded Busch Vacuum Solutions with just 5,000 Deutsche Mark and over the decades, built it into a global enterprise with more than $2 billion in revenue. Today, more than 8,000 people in 44 countries worldwide work for the Busch Group, which consists of the two well-known brands Busch Vacuum Solutions and Pfeiffer Vacuum+Fab Solutions.
Karl Busch combined visionary thinking with an engineer’s love of detail. His groundbreaking inventions, like the Huckepack and R5 vacuum pumps for food packaging, were not just technical achievements, they were expressions of a commitment to practical solutions and product excellence. The design of the R5 was revolutionary and became the most successful vacuum pump design in the world with millions sold.
Karl and Ayhan Busch worked together in the business as a team of equals: as husband and wife for 62 years, parents, and business leaders. A family man, Karl is described as a father who listened with patience, curiosity, and trust and involved his children early in the company, sought their advice, and built a business culture rooted in family teamwork and shared purpose.
Outside work, he was an adventurer and explorer: cycling from Maulburg to Istanbul, climbing Kilimanjaro, or racing in 80 days around the world in an old-timer Mercedes in 2000 with his sons Kaya and Sami.
His personal motto, drawn from the Alemannic dialect, was “Nit luck lo!” – “Never give up!” This was a principle that guided his life, whether he was hiking in the Black Forest up to his mid-nineties, running a half marathon at age 87 or starting negotiations for the first German joint venture in China in 1978.
He participated in the most recent managers’ meeting in the Netherlands. The last business trip together took place less than a year ago, when the family visited the Bavaria region of Germany. Just two months ago, they celebrated his 96th birthday together in Italy, surrounded by children and grandchildren.
He is survived by his wife Ayhan, his children Ayla, Sami and Kaya, their spouses, six grandchildren, and a global family of colleagues and friends.
