The Texas university system is unlike other colleges because of its oil-rich land that’s driving record revenue this year.
I have always (since my 20s) had a special spot in my heart for the University of Texas (UT) and its Longhorns. I came oh-so-close to pulling the trigger on attending graduate school in Austin, but GWU offered more money and a venue for more grandiose politics, which you know I fancy.
I am a full-on Georgia Bulldog now, as the late great CK was a very convincing evangelist, among many other good things. Go Dawgs!
Every day, the University of Texas System makes about $6 million off a mineral-rich swath of land it manages in the US’s largest oil field. Crude and natural gas, not fundraising or investing prowess, have positioned the school’s endowment to overtake Harvard University’s as the richest in US higher education.
The University of Texas oversees 2.1 million acres—almost the size of Delaware and Rhode Island combined—in the Permian Basin. While other universities are shedding their fossil fuel holdings in the name of eco-consciousness, the Texas college system is leasing its land to drillers including ConocoPhillips, Continental Resources, Inc. and nearly 250 other operators. — Bloomberg
Whole Foods
Many would hardly know and believe that Whole Foods Market was founded in Austin. The granola crowd would think it was fake news: “Texas? Are you shitting me?”
Global Macro Monitor 
Go Texas! That’s fantastic! Wonder if JR and Bobby Ewing had a hand in that.
HaHa…
I was told 30 years ago the best way to make a lot of money was going into the oil business. This was at a time oil had already made a lot of people a lot of money as well as having wiped out many fortunes. It’s just as true today. Which is why I went into the beer business of course.
Beer is renewable, oil is not. The Permian basin is not so permanent. Beer prices are more stable. Crude is not. I lost millions trading crude, thinking I could beat the algorithms. Dummy, me. Good to hear from you, Brock. Can we buy Saint Arnold’s in California yet?
As a UT alum, it is nice to see us rise to the top. Hopefully all this new money means that students don’t have to pay to print anymore.