I like to assume that people have the best (if sometimes misguided) intentions, and I have an alternate theory. This firm clearly put a huge amount of stock in

I like to assume that people have the best (if sometimes misguided) intentions, and I have an alternate theory. This firm clearly put a huge amount of stock in education. They were 4 blocks from a major CS university, and a significant number of staff were recent grads. I suspect the CEO had a masters which only adds credence to their belief in the education system. On top of that, they knew how much I was making ($x), how much I was asking for ($x + $50,000), and ended up offering me more ($x + $150,000). That's not the kind of thing you do when you're trying to dissuade someone from taking a job with you. Especially when the offer is 100% cash (company was private and they offered no equity). I strongly suspect that this person came from a bubble of education, and just didn't understand how you could be a poor student and then successful outside of academia.