Actually, it certainly appears he took the path to NOT throw around any of that big time green.
He could've joined the fight to shoot down a bullshit patent that is bad for the industry. Instead he chose to settle. And I concur with the speculation that by settling early, he likely cut a sweetheart of a deal for himself just to allow Acacia to list CE as a licensee....it adds validity to their claim.
If you're looking out only for yourself, that's not a bad business decision. He wins either way. If the patent is upheld, he no doubt has carved himself out a much better deal than anyone else will get. If the patent is shot down, he's out nothing and didn't spend any money fighting it. Either is an advantage for him over competitors in a market with shrinking margins. You gotta give the devil his due.
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