It may simply be that he's heard from others who do run public companies how much it sucks. It dramatically changes how you run things, and you wouldn't want to

It may simply be that he's heard from others who do run public companies how much it sucks. It dramatically changes how you run things, and you wouldn't want to be CEO of a public company. He knows that much at least. There may be other reasons as you say, certainly having to deal with the scrutiny would not be fun, no matter how above board you may be (or likely not).