BTW--I have zero sympathy for him or anyone else who forgets a password.
It worked until I had to change computers...
Me too. I've been doing this computer stuff far too long I guess. I have all of my passwords managed by a password manager, which lets me create really strong passwords. The master password can be generated algorithmically. I have daily backups, and an offsite copy of all of my data that I rotate out quarterly. Hell, even my wifi password is nothing but a huge hexidecimal string.
I'd be making damned sure I could access an account even if it was only worth $100, much less something worth millions as described.
“BTW—I have zero sympathy for him or anyone else who forgets a password.”
At the time, he probably thought he was buying a novelty, and so wasn’t all that careful with his password.
Expensive way to learn a lesson, though.