yo tbh my guess is emerica simply couldn't afford to keep reynolds any longer if he doesn't produce parts like he used to. that company doesn't have the budget to keep even him as a legacy pro. it would actually be a liability because i'm sure companies like emerica operate on a year to year basis nowadays. vans has vf money, they can easily pay reynolds better than emerica well into his 50s if he chooses to skate as long, while he has no pressure to create any magnum opus part for them anymore. i could see the seperation being a mutually beneficial thing in the end. it frees up funds for emerica to invest in the future or bump up others to flagship pro, and reynolds can get involved with vans as much as he like. he basically ensured that he will be part of a shoe team for the next ten years as opposed to being the main attraction at a fairly fledgeling company that might go under quickly if they have one or two really bad years of sales.
also it's kinda cool how he is now on the same team as tony hawk and cardiel and cab and all these other legends. if vans is sort of the shoe retirement home then that's totally fine imo.
so it probably was money motivated movements on all sides, but not the super greedy kind. reynolds and emerica just looking out for themselves financially, respectively. you probably won't catch me in vans anytime soon because of it, but it's cool reynolds is so stoked on these shoes and he clearly wants to do shit at vans in regards to designing or modding shoes.