As I recall, SB alleged that he'd been told by Ken Levy that JVP got MVP in exchange for promoting conversion to NET. I don't know (or care) whether it's true, but that's what was said. It was perceived as a scandal by some- the cynical view of awards wasn't as prevalent back then. ;-)
John and Walter.
JVP was a Fox MVP from 1996 to 2000 (before .NET was released), making these assertions not only inconsistent with history, but downright funny to anyone who knows JVP's "body of work" in VFP in the 1990's.