As a young top honcho of a medium sized firm, I had the chance of becoming friends with a very powerful officer of a huge conglomerate. He had the authority to grant huge contracts to a lot of companies so people naturally drifted towards him all the time.
I never asked him for any contract but in the few years that we regularly met, he referred me to a couple of clients and got my firm a few decent projects. But before I met with his referrals, he told me not to allot any "commission" for him and instead, just give the client the best discounts.
Now, he's dead and all that remains are fond memories about a good man. His family is financially not doing very well because all his kids are in college. Now that he's gone, we can see for a fact that he earned nothing beyond his regular salary. Now, it's fully confirmed that he personally got nothing in exchange for the millions and billions worth of contracts that he awarded to people.
I frequently think of his family and try to figure out what I can do for them. If only I have more, I can perhaps pass on more to them.
