Well it is a surprise and it isnt …
I think he was/is one of the members that always tried to prey on newbie webmasters … he always posted in the public forums pushing his traffic and pushing his hosting plans … I guess he sees it as a way to push even more.
But 40k – yah that thats a big surprise – maybe it was 4k and they inflated the cost 10x to make them seem important? 