I considered that too (the ploy, not the brilliant part) when he initially started changing his tone, but it didn’t take long before I realized that was very unlikely. His response the diver that rescued those kids in the flooded cave really sealed it for me realize that he’s just a man with too much money and not enough sense.
Perhaps less so if in a couple months it turns out that the contract went to one of Musk’s companies. Having a large amount of money to spend on something intangible can also be very useful.