With "The Smart Set" in perpetual decline, Mann sold the magazine in Spring 1911 to John Adams Thayer for $100,000. Thayer, a self-made millionaire who had "made a personal fortune as a successful advertising manager at the Ladies' Home Journal." Thayer, who previously pulled the muckraking "Everybody's Magazine" out of a slump and earned himself a significant fortune from its sale, hoped ownership of "The Smart Set" would allow him entrance into the social ranks of New York's high society. However, the magazine's ruined reputation made this difficult and his purchase left him in charge of a sinking ship.