The Cubs fell into a lengthy doldrum after the departure of their stars. In 1916, advertising executive Albert Lasker and his partner Charles Phelps Taft obtained a large block of shares and soon acquired majority ownership of the Cubs. In 1916 Taft was bought out by Charlie Weeghman, who had owned the Chicago Whales of the short-lived Federal League, and was proprietor of a popular chain of lunch counters.
