What if someone else started the network with the code? Was it maybe his intention?
👨💻 Satoshi Shares Bitcoin Code for the First Time
On November 16, 2008, about a month and a half before the launch of Bitcoin blockchain, Satoshi shared the code on the Metzdowd cryptography forum, asking for reviews and feedback.
https://bitcoin-calendar.org/en/events/2008-11-16/satoshi-shares-bitcoin-code-for-the-first-time
Discussion
There's a non-zero chance to that, but I doubt it. I believe this is something way too complex to grasp and bootstrap in ~50 days. Plus Satoshi's prior and further correspondence patterns align, so it does not look like two (or more) different people before and after.