Given the abysmal level of progress, and the lack of transparency, I think it's more than possible that he's figured out that he can fire everyone, and keep milking his patrons for $800-$900k per year while doing just the bare minimum to keep patrons hoping and invested.
This way, he can make in 2 years, what he would've otherwise made in 15 years, all while doing a lot less work. With 5 years of milking, he could likely make over 3 mil without doing much work.
This is all conjecture, obviously, but it's one possibility.