It sounds like there are no leads on why I have not received an offer, but to answer the other questions that came up:
-Yes, I was chasing $100 rebates a decade ago as a broke recent college grad starting a business. Ten years later the business has done quite well. I think the WhatsApp founder was on this exact forum before he became a multi-billionaire, so I am not the most surprising story out there.
-Why so much in a savings account? Well first. a large chunk of this money is about to go to the government for taxes, but beyond that I would argue holding cash in this environment is very rational, especially for someone like me who has 90%+ of their wealth in a single private stock. My ability to sell stock in my company indirectly ties to the NASDAQ. So, I like having cash because I will have a consolation prize if the world crashes since I can buy cheap assets. I don't really care about losing the upside in the short run. I also pulled money out of different real estate I own at a 3% rate to hedge against interest rates normalizing, and a lot of that money is here in the savings account. I pay 3% on the debt, and earn 2% in interest (and rising) and on top of that the real value of my debt is going down as inflation rises, so even with the ten year at 3% the hedge is paying for itself. If interest rates return to their long-term averages, I can buy treasuries that would pay off the mortgage debt. And I know they say no one can time the market, but I think the combination of an erratic president, rising interest rates, no more QE and a shrinking fed balance sheet sets us up for a big drop.
-If I am so rich why do I care about rewards points and the card? I think I am wealthy, but private illiquid company stock aside, not massively rich. I don't touch my savings and I live off the cash portion of my salary in one of the most expensive parts of the country. Once cheap always cheap. It is a fun game to play. I am very confident I would make money off the Centurion card, and beyond that it would be a cool employee perk that is not very expensive in the broader scheme of things. I am also curious about how businesses operate, and they are either very stupid for not giving me the card, or very smart since I don't look like a rich person and would almost certainly dilute the brand. My favorite store is Costco and I go on dates there with my wife to eat free samples.
-What about the FDIC limit? Yea, that is fair. If the world really starts looking shaky I would put it in treasuries, but I think the odds of Amex going bankrupt overnight without bigger signs of instability are close to zero. There are other things that are keeping me up at night much more than this.
I'm still curious if someone has an educated guess as to why I have not been targeted...it made sense when I had the personal card (no luxury spend) but not so much now that I have the business version.