David Cameron was paid "far more" by Greensill Capital than he was as Prime Minsiter, he boasted to MPs today.
And he said he didn't know why he signed off his texts "Love DC" - but admitted he did so with anyone he knew "even at all well."
The former Prime Minister was grilled by a Commons committee about his lobbying of ministers on behalf of the now-collapsed financial firm.
He admitted: "I was paid a generous amount - far more than I was paid as PM. And I had shares - not share options, but shares in the business which vested over the period of time of my contract.
"So it's important for the committee to know that I absolutely had a big economic investment in Greensill. I wanted it to succeed. I wanted it to grow.
"I haven't put a number on those things, because ...the amount isn't particularly germaine to these questions and is a private matter."
But the ex-PM insisted his motivation for calls and texts to ministers asking for help on behalf of the firm was not just financial, but because he thought the firm had solutions that were "in the interests of the public good."
Asked why he signed off some texts to officials with "love DC" - the ex-PM said: "Anyone I know even at all well I tend to sign off with text messages 'love DC', I don’t know why, I just do.
"My children say you don’t need to sign off text messages at all."
Mr Cameron said he said abided by the rules that were in place, but added: "Rules alone are never enough.
"We learnt that in this place over so many issues, personal conduct and codes of behaviour, and how such conduct and behaviour both appears and can be perceived, these things matter too.
"I completely accept that former prime ministers are in a different position to others because of the office that we held and the influence that continues to bring.
"We need to think differently and act differently."
He said lobbying the Government was "never intended" to be part of his role at Greensill Capital until the coronavirus crisis.
In his opening statement to the Commons Treasury Committee, he said: "In terms of my role, I was not employed at Greensill as a lobbyist and lobbying the UK Government was never intended to be part of my role.
"However, in the economic turmoil caused by Covid, the Government, quite rightly, introduced several schemes to help ensure that credit would continue to be expanded to business.
"The Greensill proposal was to make this even more effective and I believed that it should be considered by Government."
