OSU and BP Capital Hedge Fund

[legelegel]

I cannot determine what the current state of the fund is, but there are certainly a lot of rumors going around. It seems at this point that an article by AP writer, Rochelle Hines, started this speculation, and I don't really want to add to it. I did find her opening paragraph interesting in that it has been changed somewhat. So who is changing this word of this author and why?

October 22, 2008
Oklahoma State University officials cheered when oil tycoon T. Boone Pickens gave a record-setting gift of $165 million to his alma mater two years ago for athletic programs and then invested it in his BP Capital hedge fund so that it would grow even fatter. http://newsok.com/osu-projects-affected-by-donors-losses/article/3314351

October 22, 2008
OKLAHOMA CITY – Oklahoma State University officials cheered when oil tycoon T. Boone Pickens gave a record-setting gift of $165 million to his alma mater two years ago for athletic programs and then invested it in his BP Capital hedge fund so that it would grow even more.http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081023/ap_on_re_us/oklahoma_state_donation_pickens_1

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) -- Oklahoma State University officials cheered when oil tycoon T. Boone Pickens gave a record-setting gift of $165 million to his alma mater two years ago for athletic programs and then invested it in his BP Capital hedge fund so that it would grow even fatter.http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/081023/ok_osu_donation_pickens.html?.v=1

[osupsycho]

It was my understanding that the projects were actually being funded with loans that were using the OSU money in the hedge fund as collateral. This was designed so that even after everything was done we would still have money to maintain and continue building well into the future. The only issue is as the fund has lost value we have lost the ability to loan more against it. Combine that with a much tighter lending environment and it makes sense to put projects on hold till things get better.

[Cowgirl Lawyer]

This morning on the Sports Animal Robert Allen said he had heard from a source within the athletic department that once the hedge fund investment got back down to the original amount we cashed it out so that we would have the ability to finish the west end zone and pay back the loan. He also said that he'd heard that all construction other than completion of the west end zone was on hold until the markets start to recover.

[legelegel]

The question now is whether the loans now exceed the value of the collateral and that the 1 million dollor interest per month can be serviced.

[Cowgirl Lawyer]

Robert Allen seemed to think that we did have enough cash to cover the loans.

[snuffy]

This morning on the Sports Animal Robert Allen said he had heard from a source within the athletic department that once the hedge fund investment got back down to the original amount we cashed it out so that we would have the ability to finish the west end zone and pay back the loan. He also said that he'd heard that all construction other than completion of the west end zone was on hold until the markets start to recover.

I am glad to hear the first part because some people had hit the panic button over this. The second part is consistent with the announcement Holder made a while back, maybe August, "have you seen the price of gas'?

[CowboyOrangeFan]

The question now is whether the loans now exceed the value of the collateral and that the 1 million dollor interest per month can be serviced.

From what I've heard BOA has been paid (or will be soon). They were the biggest loan holder. I can' say for sure if it 100%, and I haven't heard about the other loans the AD has out. I can say with pretty good certainty that they did pay off a substantial amount. So they should have reduced their debt drastically. Hence cutting down the interest drastically. The only bad part is that we lost the gains we had made on the investment with Boone. Oh, and they will have to borrow more money to finish the WEZ. It will get done though.

[JimBob]

Damn, it's too bad Penn Square Bank is gone; we wouldn't have to bother with something as silly as collateral.

[GoPokes83]

We could still be playing like this! I'm looking no gift horse in the mouth!!!

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/69/218682167_62ec9b4e76.jpg?v=0