 Once the US entered the war, the US passed the Trading with the Enemy Act 1914 which required that German-owned business assets be held by the Office of Alien Property Custodian.Despite Merton's efforts to hide Metallgesellschaft's ownership, Loeb reported to the agency that the assets were in reality still owned by their German parent and the stock was then transferred into a trust which was supervised by Henry Morgenthau Sr., Berthold Hochschild, and Joseph F. Guffey.In 1918, the Alien Property Custodian sold the 51% stake it had confiscated at a public auction for $5.75 million with many of the shares being purchased by a syndicate of investors including Ludwig Vogelstein (who had 20%), Berthold Hochschild, and Loeb.