I'm not sure I understand your argument. Are you implying that in the end, I did the least amount of work to get an internship?

If so, that's awfully wrong. I still had an interview loop and all at the company I joined. All he really did was refer me to a recruiter and matched me up with a team that he knew needed an intern. I'm sure his referral meant something but it wasn't an automatic job offer at all.

Seems like an unfortunately odd leap to consider that not doing the work to get the job.