[fuzzfactor]

>I guess it depends on what he meant by “rock-solid.”

Exactly.

There's more than one kind of rock-solid.

Someone who is a rock-solid entrepreneur will not lie, cheat, or steal whether they are in trouble or not.

OTOH an "ordinary" non-entrepreneurial businessman may just be one who has not faced trouble (may also have a lot less risk of that) and not started to lie, cheat, or steal. Yet. But may do so any minute at the drop of a hat and you would never know.

No need for a difference in codes of ethics, rather different kinds of rock-solid for thee than me.

It's easy to remember when Enron was a rock-solid client, packed with ordinary businessmen from ordinary business schools and typical backgrounds, until one day it wasn't. Wasn't rock-solid that is, and able to pay. All the businessmen there remained ordinary after that regardless, except for the few whose ethical transgressions were among the "unavoidable handful" for which there were serious legal implications.