In 1889, banker Byron Smith founded Northern Trust to provide trust and banking services to wealthy Chicagoans. He co-founded Illinois Tool Works in 1912, after a group of inventors replied to an ad, he placed in The Economist with a plan to improve gear grinding. Both businesses still exist and are thriving & the Chicago-based Smith family — one of America’s richest families with a net worth of $19.8B ‚—owns at least 9% of industrial equipment maker Illinois Tool Works and reports holding 1% of financial services firm Northern Trust’s shares. Today, Northern Trust Corporation — a preeminent global financial institution — provides asset servicing, investment management and wealth management services for high net worth individuals and families. The bank has been named the “Best Private Bank in the U.S.” by the Financial Times Group in 2024; “One of the World’s Most Admired Companies’ by Fortune Magazine in 2022 for its 17thconsecutive year; and “Custodian of the Year” by European Pensions Awards in 2022, among other accolades. Headquartered in Chicago, Northern Trust has more than 23,000 employees and 20 locations around the globe and manages over $1.6 trillion (December 31, 2024) in assets for clients.