 Nealon claimed that the attorney general had "approved the legality of closing the Rose and selling its art", but the attorney general's office claimed they were only informed about the decision, not consulted beforehand.An early estimate of the total value of the collection was in the $350–400 million range, though values may have been less due to a flagging art market.The university's endowment was $700 million before being hit by the drop in financial markets.