It makes me wonder if Stefan has already obtained access, and doesn’t want all of the downsides that come with the world knowing. Many a lottery winner has talked about the downsides of publicly winning loads of money, and would prefer to be anonymous if they could have. There are risks to personal security, to your friendships, and loads of anxiety. By gaining access in secret, Stefan would essentially be an anonymous lottery winner, and get to skip some of that.
Of course this is Bitcoin. If all of those coins are truly in a single wallet, then one could find it on the blockchain and monitor it for transactions. I wonder if anyone has tried finding his wallet. If the coins are broken up into multiple wallets, then never mind. But a single wallet with 7001 coins for 10+ years, that is going to stand out.
The article actually said the conversation never got that far: