MICE is the acronym for categorizing the common motivations for espionage:
replyM - Money/Greed
I - Ideology/Divided Loyalty
C - Coercion/Compromise
E - Ego
Sometimes, I think we look at people who are this wealthy and think they should be immune to these kinds of shenanigans, but I'd wager that the -ICE becomes even easier to exploit in people once they no longer need money, if they were already susceptible to it to begin with.
I wonder which of these the intelligence services prefer. Every one of them has their own advantages and drawbacks in terms of predictability, reliability, long term stability and chances of double dipping/playing both sides.
replyUltra wealthy people are not in it for money. They like the game, and the money is a side effect. Many are willing to cheat evidently too.
replyinteresting insight
replyPeople are commonly in it for the money, so they naturally project this on the ultra-wealthy. But you will (almost) never get to ultra-wealthy status without some other external drive. Everyone else hits $20M, set for life, checks out and retires.
replyAll these billionaires are unfathomably rich, and still slamming 60-80hr work weeks. They are not in it for the money.
More likely he was subject to blackmail or threats by the CCP.
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