Chris Henrys Dealer Posted October 28, 2008 Report Share Posted October 28, 2008 [url="http://www.faniq.com/blog/T-Boone-Pickens-165-Million-Donation-To-Oklahoma-State-Football-Is-Completely-Gone-School-In-Massive-Debt-Blog-12968"]http://www.faniq.com/blog/T-Boone-Pickens-...Debt-Blog-12968[/url] [quote]T. Boone Pickens $165 Million Donation To Oklahoma State Football Is Completely Gone. School In Massive Debt. 22 comments Oklahoma State Is Officially Screwed by 100%InjuryRate10/22/08 You probably heard a few years ago that T. Boone Pickens, who chairs the hedge fund BP Capital Management, gave Oklahoma State a $165 million donation to be used all for helping the school's athletic program. And the largest portion of it was going to be used to beef up the school's football stadium and football facilities. [b]Well, there was one problem with Boone's donation. He left the donation in the hedge fund, which initially seemed to be a good idea as oil prices soared in a post Katrina economic climate, swelling the initial gift to over $300 million. That was before things began to turn in 2007, as international demand for oil failed to meet projections, causing the fund to come to a sudden standstill, and then dropping on mistakes made by fund managers, who were managed by Pickens. Anyway, Pickens resisted pleas by some OSU Regents to bank a good deal of the balance out of the fund when it exceeded $300 million, which was only 14 months ago. Instead Pickens decided on borrowing almost $200 million needed to expand and renovate Boone Pickens Stadium on the Stillwater campus, despite the fact that the donation was dropping in value. Now, here's the bad news. Yesterday all indications were that OSU Regents had been told last Friday afternoon that a large portion of the Pickens donation in the BP Capital hedge fund was virtually wiped out by margin calls on the funds investments in the third quarter. Well, that's not actually the case. It seems that ALL of the money is gone (the link provided is for a members site, but you can read the full article here). Officials were told that actually, the entire $ 165 million donation, and the earnings, which once inflated the gift to over $300 million, had recently been eliminated by margin calls due to drastically falling oil prices.[/b] As of Monday OSU's gift had flat-lined completely and was declared 'gone.' And just so you know, the school has already made a lot of those improvements to the football field . That's because the school borrowed almost all funds used in the stadium expansion plans using the $300 million balance in BP Capital as collateral. Yikes. So, um, Oklahoma State is now in debt of close to $300 million dollars. I have no idea how in God's name they're going to get out of this. State schools don't exactly have an extra $300 million sitting around. Has a college ever actually declared bankruptcy? I'm not sure, but we're probably about to find out. It can only get better, it can't get any worse..[/quote] [img]http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_H2DePAZe2gA/SQXsj2ioRsI/AAAAAAAAGMw/pGBdG_PTXB8/s1600-h/2006-08-15-pickens-in.jpg[/img] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Homer_Rice Posted October 28, 2008 Report Share Posted October 28, 2008 If you look at what happened in Iceland, and is happening in Eastern European countries now, and Pakistan, too, the theme is similar. As the funny money evaporates, the impact on the real economy is where the damage is leveled. And, just as the bailouts here reward the perpetrators and even help them retain their power, these "failures" will force countries into the kind hands of the IMF and World Bank. Unless there is a serious debt reduction/moratorium/bankruptcy implemented, next stop: fascism. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Henrys Dealer Posted October 28, 2008 Author Report Share Posted October 28, 2008 Hungary & Argentina also looking a little shaky. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Go Tory Go! Posted October 28, 2008 Report Share Posted October 28, 2008 You didn't mention the worst news: Oklahoma State University is still in Oklahoma. It is depressing to see this happen to an educational institution - mostly makes one wonder, "what the fuck is he thinking, giving $168 M to a goddamned amateur football program?" It really boils down to what I referenced in regard to the jackass who opened up the chequebook for, of all things, an indoor high school football practice facility - a seriously-perverted sense of philanthropy. In that regard, I hope Pickens realizes that his stupid idea is now fucking his alma mater, although he's probably most concerned that this may adversely affect the football team's record :sadd: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CTBengalsFan Posted October 28, 2008 Report Share Posted October 28, 2008 [url="http://www.usatoday.com/sports/college/football/big12/2008-10-27-okla-state-pickens_N.htm"]http://www.usatoday.com/sports/college/foo...e-pickens_N.htm[/url] [quote]STILLWATER, Okla. (AP) — Billionaire booster T. Boone Pickens will give another $63 million in cash to Oklahoma State to finish the renovation of the football stadium that bears his name, but the future of other athletic projects he'd intended to fund is in doubt because of the economic downturn. Pickens announced his latest in a line of gifts to his alma mater Monday and also said he would be returning to the school the $125 million that remained from its investment in a hedge fund he'd been managing since donating a record-breaking $165 million to the university in January 2006. MORE ON COWBOYS:Oklahoma State team notes That donation was the largest gift to a college athletic program. He intended to grow it through his investments so it would pay for renovations and new construction on the school's campus estimated to cost $420 million at the time. That plan was going smoothly until Pickens' BP Capital energy fund encountered big financial trouble in recent months. Athletic director Mike Holder said the fund hit its apex at $407 million in July but the plummeting economy resulted in the $282 million loss. Pickens will no longer be managing the money he donated to Oklahoma State. Holder said there was no set amount that Oklahoma State aimed to reach before cashing out and laughingly said they "were thinking about a billion." "You never have the ability to look forward. Looking back, would we have done things differently? Absolutely, but we don't have the luxury of hindsight," Holder said. "It's pretty amazing that we got from zero to $407 million in 2½ years." Holder said Pickens' largest gift was preceded by another $6 million gift weeks earlier. He combined that with another $31 million Holder accumulated in a fund for the university's highly successful golf program to give the department $202 million for its proposed athletic village. The project would include new facilities for the baseball, softball, tennis and equestrian programs and a joint complex for the soccer and track teams, in addition to an indoor practice facility that the football team would share with other sports. The entire project was to be completed by 2011, and all but the baseball stadium were scheduled to be done by next year. An area of several city blocks has been cleared to make room for the construction, but all the projects are on hold until there's enough money. "We won't be seeing anything happening out there until the economy comes around," Holder said. Instead, Holder said Pickens' money is simply aimed at completing the renovation of the football stadium's west end zone — which includes building a new locker room, training areas, weight room and commissary — before the 2009 football season starts. The stadium's north and south stands have already been renovated with new luxury suites and a press box, and the seating bowl in the west end is also done. "I know we'll have our hands full with the west end zone. This is about finishing what we started," Holder said. "We made a commitment to our football program that we'd give them the facilities necessary to compete at the highest level of the Big 12 Conference and we intend to honor that commitment." Pickens' donations have led to a boom in Oklahoma State football. The team is ranked in the top 10 — at No. 9 this week — for the first time since Barry Sanders' Heisman Trophy season in 1988. The Cowboys (7-1) lost at No. 1 Texas on Saturday for their first defeat this season. Still, with a win this Saturday against Iowa State, Oklahoma State would be 8-1 or better through nine games for only the third time in school history. "I think we have good people here that have good substance and they're very solid and they're going to work hard, and now we have some added advantages that we've never had," Gundy said. "It would have never happened without him. There's just no way. It couldn't happen."[/quote] The sentiment about the funny money drying up remains, but it seems that original article overstated OK St's losses Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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