I don't think Mikey's in it for the money. If he wanted, he coudl easily have parlayed his prior experiences into jobs that paid millions (he's good with stats, math, and running production services, there are lots of options for people who do that).

It was also pretty obvious the steps he was taking would lead to this position. He worked on Obama's reelection campaign and got a lot of face time with preeminent people, and felt out whether they would be open to giving him a position of some responsibility and power.

I think Mikey genuinely wants to make a difference and spent a fair amount of time rationalizing and positioning to ensure that when he did make a difference it would have the greatest impact possible and that it would happen on his terms.