Not So Great Fundraising Idea

LongJim · March 20, 2012

Varsity · March 20, 2012

I saw this, too. Amazing. maybe now people will see T Boone for the scumbag he is.

greenjoe · March 20, 2012

North Texas did the same thing during the Helwig era. We were given the option of paying our Mean Green Club dues or paying for a life insurance policy payable to the Athletic Department. (the joke was that we were then offered a bus trip to all Louisiana road games)

I signed up as did many of my Mean Green friends. And none of us died. They stopped the program.

FirefightnRick · March 20, 2012

How embarrassing to be fooled in that way. Surely someone lost their job over it?

Rick

GL2Greatness · March 20, 2012

I saw this, too. Amazing. maybe now people will see T Boone for the scumbag he is.

what exactly makes him a scumbag....the deal was done with the full consent of all involved and as pointed out above it is not the first time something like this has been done and corporations often take out life insurance on key employees as well

it was a poorly planned and executed idea, but that does not make anyone a scumbag it just makes them someone that had a poor understanding of actuary science

and Boone has always made up the cost of any of the mistakes he has made that have cost OkState and they are well ahead with him in total donations than they would be without him

just because he tries something different to leverage his donations and those don't always work as planned that does not make him a scumbag especially when he covers the cost of the mistakes out of his pocket

GrayEagle · March 21, 2012

what exactly makes him a scumbag....the deal was done with the full consent of all involved and as pointed out above it is not the first time something like this has been done and corporations often take out life insurance on key employees as well

it was a poorly planned and executed idea, but that does not make anyone a scumbag it just makes them someone that had a poor understanding of actuary science

and Boone has always made up the cost of any of the mistakes he has made that have cost OkState and they are well ahead with him in total donations than they would be without him

just because he tries something different to leverage his donations and those don't always work as planned that does not make him a scumbag especially when he covers the cost of the mistakes out of his pocket

Boone is pretty much a scumbag. He made his fortune by buying companies with junk bonds and selling their assets which usually far exceeded what he bought them for. He put thousands of people out of work because he literally sold the company out from under them. He tried to be the "wind czar" but has yet to recover his investment on that one.

One thing in his favor is that he is the major sponsor of Meals on Wheels in Dallas. Of course, he's been a major benefactor of Oklahoma State so he's not totally without some redeeming qualities. He's still harmed more people than he's helped in my opinion.

GL2Greatness · March 21, 2012

Boone is pretty much a scumbag. He made his fortune by buying companies with junk bonds and selling their assets which usually far exceeded what he bought them for. He put thousands of people out of work because he literally sold the company out from under them. He tried to be the "wind czar" but has yet to recover his investment on that one.

One thing in his favor is that he is the major sponsor of Meals on Wheels in Dallas. Of course, he's been a major benefactor of Oklahoma State so he's not totally without some redeeming qualities. He's still harmed more people than he's helped in my opinion.

and oprah just fired 30 people yesterday as well...is she a scumbag also?....I personally think she is and not because she fired 30 people that she could afford to pay for life out of her weekly food allowance, but because she is a fat hypocritical windbag

buying undervalued companies is a part of business and no one deserves a job for life....if someone is running a company in a fashion that is not maximizing the value of it or that is inefficient it is only a matter of time until change comes to that company be it in the form of better management or in the form of competition that know how to do the same thing for less cost or more profit or both

if you want to live in a place where all someone has to do is show up every day and produce "something" then move out of the USA and go to Russia or Venezuela or Cuba because they can use you and your ideas on business or lack there of

GM just laid off hundreds of workers as well while still sitting on tons of government invested dollars....so are the people that run GM scumbags also because they laid off people from producing something that no one wanted to buy because it was useless junk and over priced even with government backing?

just because Boone lives in the real world and is able to profit from it and you don't that does not make him a scumbag that just makes him someone that understands the reality of business even if he does have some failures....at least he pays for his mistakes out of his own pocket when it comes to donations ect. instead of looking for the government to step in and cover him and at least he is honest about it unlike harpo and government motors and the like

Edited March 21, 2012 by GL2Greatness

UNTexas · March 21, 2012

I don't know if anyone here is a scumbag, however, whoever came up with this idea, everyone who thought it was a good idea for the Athletic Department to implement this, and anyone who signed up for it a are total morons.

Good for the insurance company for exposing their lack of moral character, stupidity, and most comically taking their money. Additionally, bravo to the judge for tossing out their stupid crybaby lawsuit.

Edited March 21, 2012 by UNTexas

Varsity · March 21, 2012

One way T Boone is a scumbag is that he runs to D.C. to get the pols to back his schemes. W-e-l-f-a-r-e b-u-m.

LongJim · March 21, 2012

just because he tries something different to leverage his donations and those don't always work as planned that does not make him a scumbag especially when he covers the cost of the mistakes out of his pocket

While I agree that it doesn't make anyone a scumbag, the entire scheme reeks of cynicism. The fact that it's not an original idea has no bearing on the fact that it's sort of deplorable.

And it becomes even more so when the scheme is cancelled and goes to litigation because the "donors" didn't die soon enough before the chips were called in.

If they had big enough balls to put this out there in the first place, at least have financial and moral balls big enough to keep it rolling until they croak.

UNTLifer · March 21, 2012

Should've hired a hit man...just sayin'.

MeanGreenTexan · March 21, 2012

Here's a better idea:

RV and staff could send out mass emails to the Denia area residents, any / all Dickey and Dodge apologists, GL2Greatness, the Denton City Council, Lee Jackson, and Royce West saying something like this:

Hello Kind Sir/Madam,

My name is Simba Mufasa and I am a very wealthy King in some African country you have never heard of: (make up name of said African country).

Unfortunately, Kony is attempting to steal all of my money. All $400 billion of it.

Would you be so kind as to let me hide my money in your United States bank account? In return, I will give you $20 million.

Please reply directly to this email with your checking account routing number and social security number and I will commence with the funds transfer immediately.

Best regards,

Simba Mufasa, King of (made up country name).

But instead of transferring money TO their account, you transfer money OUT of their account! :thumbsu:

Hello Baseball Stadium!

FloMoGrad · March 21, 2012

Should've hired a hit man...just sayin'.

Chasing good money with bad. Love it!

kalebschumann · March 21, 2012

Here's a better idea:

RV and staff could send out mass emails to the Denia area residents, any / all Dickey and Dodge apologists, GL2Greatness, the Denton City Council, Lee Jackson, and Royce West saying something like this:

Hello Kind Sir/Madam,

My name is Simba Mufasa and I am a very wealthy King in some African country you have never heard of: (make up name of said African country).
Unfortunately, Kony is attempting to steal all of my money. All $400 billion of it.
Would you be so kind as to let me hide my money in your United States bank account? In return, I will give you $20 million.
Please reply directly to this email with your checking account routing number and social security number and I will commence with the funds transfer immediately.

Best regards,
Simba Mufasa, King of (made up country name).

But instead of transferring money TO their account, you transfer money OUT of their account!

Hello Baseball Stadium!

Now we're talking! These are the ideas that we need!

I think RV should find 10 people to give him 100 dollars. And those 10 find another 10 to give them 100 dollars. And those 10 and so on! That would be a super easy way to get the Athletics Department some quick money.

UNTLifer · March 21, 2012

Chasing good money with bad. Love it!

Thanks. I was afraid the comment might be too dark.

KRAM1 · March 21, 2012

what exactly makes him a scumbag....the deal was done with the full consent of all involved and as pointed out above it is not the first time something like this has been done and corporations often take out life insurance on key employees as well

it was a poorly planned and executed idea, but that does not make anyone a scumbag it just makes them someone that had a poor understanding of actuary science

and Boone has always made up the cost of any of the mistakes he has made that have cost OkState and they are well ahead with him in total donations than they would be without him

just because he tries something different to leverage his donations and those don't always work as planned that does not make him a scumbag especially when he covers the cost of the mistakes out of his pocket

I can simply not believe that I am agreeing with GL2Greatness...someone wake me up, but the above statements are 100% correct. What part of this makes Boone Pickens a bad guy? I doubt you will find anyone in Stillwater thinking he's a bad guy. He puts his money where his mouth is...unlike some we all know. :no: :w00t:

I was part of UNT's insurance program that greenjoe talked about...it didn't work for UNT either and they abandoned it. My only surprise in the OSU thing was that the program was still being used...heck, if you are going to try that, start with 70+ year old men.....not young folks who will live forever and will see their term life premiums skyrocket as they age....just saying....older guys tend to die off faster than younger folks...I should know...