The Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway was controlled by the New York Central Railroad's Alfred Holland Smith, a close friend of the Van Sweringens. He had guided the Van Sweringens and even financed their rapid transit to Shaker Heights. In late 1915, the Attorney General of the United States advised the New York Central that its control of the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern and the Nickel Plate was in violation of the Federal antitrust laws. Alfred Smith called his friends, the Van Sweringens on February 1, 1916 and offered them the Nickel Plate. They bought it for $8.5 million on April 13, 1916, equal to $ today. In return for operating concessions and access to certain stations, they only put up a little over $500,000 (equal to $ today) but they controlled 75% of Nickel Plate's voting stock.