Most people's morals and ethics, however "religious" and staunch they sound, is up for sale. It's just a matter of finding the right price (as long as what you want from them is not illegal).
I am yet to meet someone whose morals are not for sale. I only know figures like Gandhi but I never got a chance to meet them (and some books told me they were flexible when it came to themselves - re: his wife's medical treatment).
Your parent literally said "most people," i.e. one example is not enough.
And I have to agree. There's a reason the idiom "every man has his price" exists. Certainly, if a large company offered me billions of dollars for a small business of my own, there are relatively few scenarios I can imagine where I'd turn it down.
I am yet to meet someone whose morals are not for sale. I only know figures like Gandhi but I never got a chance to meet them (and some books told me they were flexible when it came to themselves - re: his wife's medical treatment).