Seems weird to sell out after losing the DC license and presumably being less valuable. It may just have been that Todd got too good an offer.
This is what stands out to me. There can be legitimate benefits to joining some investment company's empire, so it isn't automatically a bad sign, but doing it under these particular circumstances has blinking red lights all over it. This screams "We need a lifeline" or "Todd's tired and looking for a golden parachute" or both.