I don't think that was his main point. He had, after all, just said that he was willing to compromise his morals to the extent of continuing to work with BCG despite the dishonesty it involved -- because the amount of money potentially involved was so large. "I think I’ve come to the conclusion that having a father who can pay for a top-notch education outweighs the disadvantage of being raised by a hypocrite. Sticking with the job for the sake of a paycheck passes the children test."

So I'd say his main point wasn't "look at me, I stuck to my morals" but "I'm corruptible but not infinitely corruptible". (The reason for mentioning the $16k in the title isn't to say "look how much money I turned down" but to say "look how much money they offered me for this".)