1932, Sears restructured Britannica, ending sales through their outlets, opting instead for a network of sales representatives who went door-to-door, and staffing booths at conventions and shopping centres. In 1938, Britannica began publishing a yearly synopsis of world events, called the Britannica Book of the Year. Benton family ownership In 1941, Britannica was gifted to the University of Chicago by Sears. However, the university didn't believe they could manage the company. William Benton, then vice president of the university, offered to put up the operating capital to protect the university against any losses. Benton bought two‐thirds of the stock, and subsequently bought the remaining third. In 1952, Benton started preparations for the fifteenth edition. Britannica acquired Merriam-Webster in 1964 and Compton's Encyclopedia as well in the early 1960s. Benton died in 1973, before the fifteenth edition was published in 1974. The newly titled Britannica 3 was composed of a ten-volume Micropædia, a 19-volume Macropædia and a one-volume guide to the encyclopædia's use, called Propædia. In 1985, a two-volume index was added, as well as other refinements. Robert P. Gwinn succeeded Benton as publisher and chairman of Britannica in 1974. He divided the company's operations into Britannica USA and Britannica International. In 1990, nearly 120,000 encyclopædias were sold in the United States, with sales for the year rising to $650 million. By 1994, sales had slumped to $453 million, with only 51,000 sets being sold in the US. Sales continued to decline after 1994, finally forcing the company to close more than 70 percent of its sales offices. Safra ownership In 1996, Britannica was sold to an investment group led by Jacob E. Safra, a Switzerland-based financier. He restructured the company, laying off more than 120 people including many of the company's top employees. Safra also dissolved the home sales force, with an additional 140 losing their jobs, along with 300 independent contractors. In 1999, they launched Britannica.com, which contained the complete Encyclopædia Britannica. The website repeatedly crashed on its opening day, due to an estimated ten million users attempting to access the site. After several days of continued problems it was shut down, and restarted a few weeks later with upgraded capacity. Britannica.com laid off 20 percent of its work force one year later. In 2009, Britannica Global Edition was printed with 30 volumes. It contained over 40,000 articles and 8,500 photographs. In 2012, after 244 years, Britannica ended the