White Sox DH Frank Thomas is negotiating with NY-based
securities firm SPP Hambro & Co. for a sale of $20M of nine-
year bonds which "will give him a large lump of untaxed
money immediately, while reducing his share" of the $7M
annual salary he is set to collect through 2006, according
to Dan Weil of BLOOMBERG. Tony Decello, VP at Investment
Advisors Int'l, said "he heard" that the Thomas bond will
carry interest payments of 7.5% to 8%, "about the same as
utility bonds with a junk rating of BB3." Decello: "To
borrow at 7-8 percent and invest and earn 10-12 percent --
that's the play." Weil wrote that the risks that must be
taken to earn double-digit investment returns "cause some
athletes' financial advisers to reject the bond idea." Jan
Plewes of Advantage Int'l: "We're conservative, so I don't
see where we would advise doing it." FAME co-Founder Curtis
Polk also said that he wouldn't be interested in bonds for
his clients. A spokesperson for Thomas "wouldn't say how he
will invest the proceeds from his bond sale" but one report
said that Thomas "will use the money to fund his businesses,
including a record label" (BLOOMBERG, 8/6). In N.Y., Richard
Wilner confirms that Thomas' record label, Un-D-Nyable
Entertainment, "is looking to expand" (N.Y. POST, 8/7).
