Jackson Jambalaya

Sounds like his IHL claims are as baseless as his Foundation claims. At least that’s what your repotting sounds like.

Just the type of shenanigans that have become the norm for the last four (orange) years. I can't imagine why he feels so empowered to make HUGE baseless claims...

It may be a private foundation but if you look close you may find that there is language in their charter granting IHL authority to remove and replace the entire BOD at its discretion...

Tally Ho Bubba!

I know this man He is honorable and loves Ole Miss. I can promise you, his concern is only for the betterment of Ole Miss. that having been said, he probably would have no problem seeing his alma mater being “reimbursed” for “accidentally” Having been overcharged.

Sounds like the Madison Timber scandal & banks should be investigated too.

Bubba? Sounds more like a Mississippi State alum.

I'm familiar with the management of the University of South Alabama's timberland holdings. It is true "boots on the ground" timber management.

It appears the Foundation's management is more of a "hands in the coffers" approach.

WAOM.

Attn 2:41 With all of his faults, Lamar Adams of Madison Timber, never bilked Ole Miss He actually gave considerable (ill gotten) funds to Ole Miss. Needless to say, those funds were “clawed back”.

Why isn't Bubbsa represented by counsel in this?

How is this a part of the university? Because the foundation is under the management and control of the university and given authorization to collect and manage all donations to the university that were garnered using the university's likeness, name, logos, etc. Seriously, it would be a breach of fiduciary duty for the university to allow a "private" organization unrestricted authority to raise money in the university's name and spend it as the private organization sees fit.

Lots of metrosexual ascot clutching afoot. Hotty Toddy.

So many questions.

So few answers.

So much confusion.

Multiple tangled webs.

Hidden trails and valleys.

What else is new up at Oxfart.

3:16 Wasn’t Lamar’s money to give and yes he did bilk investors, that is why he is in Federal Prison but McHenry and others should be too. No one believes he did this All on his Own. Just like the Molpus sounds like.

KF, if you read his petition, he debunks the 'private foundation" argument - based on the type of IRS filings that the group makes. According to him, a private foundation does not raise money from the public at large.

Whether he is correct or not is up to others to figure out. But, so far, the University, nor the Foundation, has addressed that argument. The one thing that gives it creds to me is that the same lawyer represents the University, the Foundation, and all the individuals involved. If in fact the Foundation is separate from the University, and since there are disputed facts here, then the same lawyer representing both could come to be a problem should impropriety be found by an outside review.

If the foundation is filing a 990 tax return, it is a public charity. If it is filing a 990-PF, then it is a Private Foundation.

According to Investopedia, the difference between the two type organizations is how they raise their money, and the tax deductability of contributions to the organization.

If they raise their money from multiple sources, then they are a Public Charity and the donations have a higher tax deductabililty to the donors. A private foundation receives its money generally from a single source.

So, despite the statement by Kingfish above, it appears that this organization is NOT a Private Foundation but instead a Public Charity, despite the claims by Cal Mayo Esq in the attempt to sweep this mess under the rug.

But don't know why anybody should be surprised or upset - at least this is a better deal than is going on down in corndog country with that University's use of their various funds.

"The University shall have rights of inspection of Foundation records. Such rights shall be afforded to the IHL, if so desired.The Foundation shall maintain an appropriate methodology under which all gifts, grants, endowments and other assets are accepted and accounted for, an appropriate procedure to determine how income related to those assets is computed and distributed to the University, and the terms under which any portion of such assets or the income related thereto may be used for the operating or other expenses of the Foundation."
P. 7 of the Affiliation Agreement between UM and its Foundation
https://assets.documentcloud.org/documents/6466546/UM-Affiliation-Agreement.pdf

Does anyone have a list of non-profits who are not doing this type of sweetheart deal in this state?

Who has standing to ask for an accounting?

No surprise that there is no shortage of experts on JJ on the subject of Ole Miss' foundation...despite so many hating Ole Miss.

I have known Lawyer Pettit all my life. He is exposing a serious case of brother-in-lawing going on with a bunch of sticky fingers at the UM Foundation. I know this man well enough to know he would not just make this up to cause a stink. I am also an alumni of UM. I think Auditor White should look into this den of thieves in Oxford. My money is on Councilor Pettit.

When have claims of corruption ever been proven true in modern day Mississippi? (I'm asking for a friend 'cause I ain't got no dog in this hunt!)

If it's true maybe someone could start a blog to expose this kind of jackassery!

Bubba is a good man and a lawyer by trade who personally owns many acres of timber. He knows what he is talking about. Good Rebel and rabbit hunter

I think that's one of them ad hominy attacks at 7:03.

All that there timbah dealin is totally on the up and up...and I'm fixin to be moving on to the PizzaGaetz DOJ extortion plot. I hear it's totally off the hook!

Let's dispense with this one. It goes in the 'Who Cares?' column.

@8:28 writes:

"I am also an alumni of UM. I think Auditor White should look into this den of thieves in Oxford. My money is on Councilor Pettit."

Alumni? Councilor? So much for freshman English at Ole Miss.

The masking, disguising, and commingling of public and private funds is the bread and butter of Mississippi's corrupt higher education system. They plays with billions no one will ever know about.....and it's only getting worse because they claim no one has "standing" to call for an accounting. Shad White started to poke that bear, but rapidly pulled his hand back so he can campaign for the next higher office without being mauled. His forensic auditor training has gone to waste.

Men/women with brief cases can steal many more millions than those with guns. DHenley

for those paying attention,rather than the usual crowd on this site that wet their pants anytime they hear anything about a chickenshit SEC university, a quick look at the secretary of state website will show that the UM foundation was incorporated in 1973 as a not for profit corporation. in 2006, during the economic go-go period ,both the name and the corporate status was changed. its now called the UM realty foundation. and corporate status was changed to a for profit corporation.
for the uninformed, realty means real estate...you know , that dirt you standing on top of.
it looks as though in 2006 the people who run this decided to see if they could make money. any body stupid enough to send money to an outfit like this deserves to loose it.

Why not just invest in cap weighted index funds through Vanguard and remove all appearance of impropriety. The Foundation would get very low management fees and excellent yields. Jack Bogle taught us all years ago that no one is smart enough to stock pick or time the market. Bubba is right. Get rid of the Molpus fees. Changes must be made or our donors will bolt.

Kingfish, you asked how the IHL Board has jurisdiction here. Under Section 301.0806 B of the IHL Bylaws styled “University Foundation/ Affiliated Entity Activities” the Board can require that a University’s affiliate organizations such as foundations “must adhere to (appropriate) ethical standards,” and “must properly manage, utilize and account for funds contributed to or for the benefit” of the university.

Have known Bubba for over 60 years. He is an honest man who just wants these shenanigans to cease so the University, not a few self serving individuals, can primarily benefit from investments made with Foundation donations. This good ole boy network needs to be exposed and dissolved.

Think about it this way: What if a state agency decided the it would let a private foundation collect all of its revenues. And, because the foundation is "private," it is not obligated to manage the funds on behalf to he state agency if it chooses not to. This scenario is unthinkable and would not be tolerated by the legislature, the attorney general, or even Shad the wonder boy. Yet, state leaders and ll those people drinking the cool aid of their respective Mississippi universities think its ok for them to operate this way. I am humored by the MSU fans posting about how this is another OM problem. Guess what, your school operates the same way with a "private" foundation supposedly given full control over all of you donations and related investments. The joke is on you.

9:24 ... A quick search on the MS Sec. of State website will show that the "University of Mississippi Foundation" is a non-profit corporation in good standing. There is a separate entity called "University of Mississippi Foundation Realty, LLC" which is a for-profit entity. They are not the same entity, so saying the UM Foundation "converted" to a for-profit entity in 2006 is incorrect.

The two entities are probably affiliated, but it is neither unusual or illegal for 501(c)(3)s to engage in unrelated business ventures (through subsidiaries or affiliates) so long as they report and pay taxes on the earnings of such ventures. I suspect that is what is going on.

Not defending the UM Foundation, but setting the record straight on the nature of the two entities.

4:31 - You have pricked 9:24's balloon. And he spent so much time on his research and commentary.

@3:00pm Home run! The entire college system is a shell game.

He is comparing apples and oranges between 2 foresters managing timberland owned by USA and the type of work a Timberland Investment Management Organization does, particularly Molpus who is the most vertically integrated TIMO around. They manage timberland for a fund made up of several organizations and most all of these funds Molpus puts money into themselves so they have a vested interest. If the fund does good, Molpus does good, if the fund performs poorly, Molpus performs poorly. They provide a lot more services beside forest management to their clients. They employ foresters, accountants, lawyers, inventory specialists, GIS specialists, and IT specialists who do an excellent job managing their clients investments while being constantly watched over by the funds hired auditing firms (you know the ones on the hats of professional golfers). Also, these funds and Molpus are SFI certified to ensure all the liberals out there that the wood they buy from Home Depot was managed responsibly (Added costs). There are many aspects that are not being considered as to why 2017 is high. Perhaps, this is different from other years. At any rate, to label all of Molpus as bad is just slander. I worked for them for many years and they have some outstanding people there. I am not saying that there was or was not something inappropriate going on. I have no idea. I just wanted to point out the unfair comparisons and slander of good people.

3:54 - If, as you claim, you have no damned idea...How can you charge slander?

In answer to anonymous who supports Molpus, it was obvious he worked for Molpus or was someone who was unbelievably ignorant of timber investments. His statements come right off the Molpus website. I own over a thousand acres of timberland. My land is SFI certified; I practice sustainable forestry; my forester is my GIS specialist, and my IT specialist. This is 2021. That stuff is not so hard to understand. What is hard to understand is how someone can be so stupid as to believe those nice terms are worth paying half your income from a timber investment to a bunch of slick salesmen. Another insulting lie this guy says is that Molpus puts their money in these things. The money Molpus puts in one of these things is the 1% it charges each sucker who is fool enough to buy their sales pitch. Look at the Ole Miss numbers. There was no way Ole Miss could make a decent return and no way Molpus could keep from making millions. As far as the good people who have worked for Molpus goes I do not doubt this. But I wonder how many accountants, lawyers, secretaries, environmentalists, etc. this guy tries to pay out of his retirement portfolio..
Ole Miss could have invested in timber index funds and tripled the return. They could have invested in timberland in Mississippi and tripled the return. They sold a big tract of timberland they owned not long before the Molpus investment. But only through Molpus could the board members on the investment committee make a ton of money for themselves and their buddies.

I don’t work for Molpus but am a forestry professional from MS (don’t reside there currently) and have worked with them as a contractor years ago. They were nothing but outstanding to work with then. I still know some of its executives and some of its foresters in other states. Molpus has never had anything but an outstanding reputation the states where it manages land, in the forest industry, and in environmental certification community. I don’t know if Mr. Petit has an axe to grind or if there is an internal struggle going on at the OM Foundation; but, the alumni members should be policing itself better if it’s leaders are not negotiating good investment deals. (Sarcasm). I have dealt with a lot of well-intentioned timberland owners that believe they know far more about the natural resources I went to college to learn to manage than ANY professional forester ever will. (Sarcasm again). Sounds like too many cooks in the kitchen. If Mr. Petit doesn’t like what the foundation is doing, quit supporting it. Why slander a well-trusted, proven company without basis of fact?

Nobody ever said the field people for Molpus are not good people. The point is that the Ole Miss Foundation is paying around $32 per acre to manage its interest in the timber investment. The 14 year contract was negotiated by people working both sides of the deal. Most would call this corruption. Part of the money that was given away to Molpus and its people on the Foundation Board was donated by Mr. Pettit who definitely should have an axe to grind. One question to the forestry professional who recently commented in support of Molpus: would you pay $32 per acre per year to someone to manage your timberland?