Ex-hedgie Michael Steinhardt has promised 20 valuable paintings and drawings?including five Picassos and one drawing by Jackson Pollock?as collateral for a loan on his latest real estate deal. The loan's "related to an investment in the American Stock Exchange building," which Steinhardt recently purchased. Apparently such a move is the new thing in real estate financing: billionaire Nelson Peltz pledged works by Matisse, Monet, Degas, and Renoir, plus a few antiques, to secure his own loan. So the non-rich hoping to get into real estate may have to plan a few heists first. [BusinessWeek]
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