Not disagreeing with the larger point, but, I think you would be surprised how many shops (think hedge funds, think tanks, etc), would easily pay a few hundred

Not disagreeing with the larger point, but, I think you would be surprised how many shops (think hedge funds, think tanks, etc), would easily pay a few hundred thousand dollars to have a big-wig visit for a few minutes and boost employee morale and do some handshaking. It’s major signaling that can easily amount to 10m a year.