I would argue that TFA and the Holiday Special are the same kind of monster.
Both made without the creator’s involvement and made solely for profit.
There is nothing even close to a creative vision for either entity.So you would need to lump the prequels into the same “made solely for profit” category. Those films were only made for the money. He had no intention of ever making those films. Lucasfilm needed a money maker. the only parts of Lucasfilm making any sort of money was its subsidiary companies ( ILM, Skywalker sound etc). Lucasfilm needed a hit. The only things of any value on its books were Star Wars and Indy. They had had too many flops. The SE’s were done to test the waters. Did the public still want Star wars? If those had failed, then pre production on TPM would have likely stopped.
Your argument has no basis. I mean it doesn’t seem like Lucas needed any money at that point.
Yes because ALL rich people NEVER try to accumulate more currency.
Well he could simply get some other people to write and direct and just take the profit while sipping beer on the beach. Obviously there was some personal reason that he invested his time in it.