I can't remember who it was, but I saw a comedy routine where the guy described a conversation he had with his financial advisor. The advisor asked him "What does financial stability mean to you?" The comedian, having just recently started earning real money from comedy for the first time, had never even considered such a question before and had to ponder on it for a moment. Finally he thought up an answer. "What financial stability means to me is when I'm ordering food and they ask if I want to add guacamole, I don't have to think about it, I can just say yes."
That line really stuck with me, and I have found it to be an accurate indicator of my own financial stability. Only works if you actually like guac though.
Not at all. He'd still do the evil stuff that benefits him personally, or that he does out of spite, or that he does because it riles up his supporters. Honestly, he'd probably still do some things to benefit Putin for free too, just to help out someone he admires. Still, I think he'd do less (or at least different) evil stuff if no one had been willing to buy him.
What would be notably different, I think, would be the amount of "disrespect" he puts up with from his buyers. Elon hasn't once been publicly deferential to Trump, when everyone else he's working with has to toe the line very carefully or get fired