Oh FFS. This has been debunked so many times over the years it’s not funny.
OJH was repaired for a cost less than $100 million. It was insured for the replacement cost which was at the time well in excess of $140 million. In addition, at the time Boeing had a log jam of backorders for the 744 at the time meaning Qantas had the lost capacity back online well before they would have had they’d waited for the next available slot off the production line.
Source: the engineer that actually oversaw the repair job and is still sought after world wide for similar repair jobs on big airliners including one on a 747 in Maastricht as recently as a month or so ago.
And, folks, subsequent to the repair job, became the best performing aircraft in the fleet, the ONLY one that needed zero rudder trim in cruise, and then had the best "Delta" fuel in the fleet, indeed it then performed ahead of baseline, the real proof for any airframe.
There is an excellent documentary on the whole rebuild, it is made abundantly clear there, by those those doing the work, particularly the senior Boeing engineer on the job, that the aircraft was far from a write-off.
It is insurance underwriters who decide whether a hull is loss or not, in conjunction with the aircraft owners, who are usually finance organisations of some kind, not whoever's name is painted on the side.
Source, me, who flew the aeroplane frequently after the rebuild.
Tootle pip!!