I've known several who did the same. I was an Army officer before I went into software development, and have little interest in being in charge of other people

I've known several who did the same. I was an Army officer before I went into software development, and have little interest in being in charge of other people again. The only painful aspect of this is being subjected to the poor "leadership" of others - when you know you could do a better job of it. Which is also why the #1 thing that can keep me at a company these days is when I see it has good leadership. I know it's rare.