This, but only partly because of his own wealth/liquidity. He’s a difficult client, late at paying his bills, and being associated with him smears your name with half the country, including even a not-insignificant percentage of rich assholes…
From the lawyers that don’t reject him at any hourly rate, he’s likely now getting the “Fuck you” price, where you don’t want the job but you put out a crazy number to avoid simply saying no.