I’m on page 2 of the thread so far and the accusations (I emphasize accusations as they’re not honest questions) are rather ugly, to be honest. I’ve never met Boddington, bought any of his products or followed him for a considerably long time, but people seem to have an agenda in mind when criticizing him which I find to be perplexing. Maybe he’s deserving of it, who knows, but I’m seriously unimpressed by a lot of the comments made on the thread.
I'm not going to read past page 2 of that 25 page thread because then I'll have to finish it lol. But to your point, jealousy is an awful thing, especially when it comes to money and the things it buys. If he was some tech billionaire or fortune 500 CEO, would people question how he paid for so many safaris? IMO, the root of any predisposition lies with that a military career is seen to most as a "normal" job, as far as income level. So some folks that also have "normal" jobs but cant afford 100 safaris will throw accusations of wrongdoing first... No consideration for other businesses someone may have, inheritance, investments, etc. Heres one for you: what if he bought all the hunts with sponsor money and they were probably discounted (but not free) for the exposure for the outfitter? If that's the case, they were paid for (so that claim holds true) and his salary (high or low) wouldnt be to much effect because his "normal income" wasnt what bought them.
I admittedly know nothing about his finances or care, and somewhat doubt that I could find cold hard facts to give me that info if I did want it. IF the man had shady dealings, lied about taking free hunts, or anything of the sort than shame on him and what goes around comes around but theres a good chance none of us have access to proper info (almost anything short of bank statements is just speculation) to justifiably make that judgement...
Maybe a bit of a rant, but this type of thing is a pet peeve of mine. Any and every entrepreneur probably feels the same way because theyve probably lost count how many (jealous) people have told them how they were lucky, how wealthy they are, how easy their business is, etc and dont see the true work, margins, bills, etc.