40% of the bank's original capitalization of $1 million, and the original 27 shareholders included such businessmen and civic leaders as Marshall Field, Martin A. Ryerson, and Philip D. Armour. The company's headquarters building at 50 South LaSalle Street in the Financial District of Chicago dates from 1905 and was designed by Frost and Granger. The structure opened with five stories, but is designed to accommodate additional floors. However, when the bank needed additional space in 1965, it opted to construct a new 14-story building in the international style to the west and selected Cesar Pelli as its architect. In March 1914, Byron Laflin Smith died and his son, Solomon Albert Smith, took over the bank. The company's conservative policies served it well during the 1920s and the company's assets actually grew during the Great Depression, while many other banks suffered from bank failure. By 1941, nearly half of all the bank's commercial accounts were drawn from outside the Chicago metropolitan area. During World War II, the company took part in the government's war bond drives and provided loans for manufacturing war materials under special government programs. The war created more opportunities for the bank; all sectors of its business expanded. During the 1950s, Northern Trust spent heavily to develop automated banking services, including the first fully automated financial statements for trust clients. In October 1963, Solomon A. Smith died. Solomon Byron Smith became chairman of the executive committee and his brother, Edward Byron Smith, became chairman. In 1986, the bank acquired First Lake Forest Corporation for $61 million in cash. Edward Byron Smith retired as chief executive officer in 1979. He was succeeded by E. Norman "Bud" Staub. A few years later, Philip W. K. Sweet took over but he resigned in 1984. In 1984, Weston Christopherson, former CEO of Jewel, took the helm. He is credited with guiding the bank through a difficult period when sour loans to Latin American countries were hurting profits. When oil prices dropped suddenly in the early 1980s, many South American nations realized they could not repay their enormous bank loans. The bank suffered uncharacteristically high losses. Aggressive management, loan reserves, and write-offs enabled the bank to restore its asset quality. During Christopherson's six years at Northern Trust, profits rose from $34 million to $113 million. At the time of his retirement in 1990, the company was the 11th most profitable of the