Not sure... Probably some kind of development that could support a community SMT. It'd be cool to ask the collective groups that question...
think it's only the top 21 that actually confirm blocks and receive the block reward, but yes, they're paid pretty well. There are theirs of involvement I believe, like the top 21 do something, the top 50 do other things, and thr top 100 do other things for the chain.
You should get him on steem. :)
I saw the offer put out for free steem accounts. I'll check in with him again. He's interested, but doesn't have much free time, and probably would only post sporadically.