You guys astonish me.
First off, Sakurai DOES overwork himself by our standards, regardless of what you think, and just because someone makes something that succeeds doesn't mean they are rich. Why do you think he keeps working on games if he had enough money to sit on right now? Other than being threatened by Nintendo of course.
Secondly, and listen very closely...
SORA IS NOT OUT OF THE RUNNING!
Just because somebody SAID that they interviewed Shinji and he replied with 'we have no plans for Ultimate' doesn't mean anything.
See, people seem to misunderstand (as I have) as long as you do not directly say 'This character is in' or 'This character is not in' that you aren't breaking NDA. It's why what Aubrey said about Steve means nothing but the remarks about Master Chief remain grounded.
Now this part is beyond my knowledge, but apparently Shinji has also made similar statements about things that have ended up being true. Regardless, this is not an outright deconfirmation and really the only solid way to deconfirm him would be for Nomura to come out and say something. Sora is not out, Steve is not out, and Erdrick is not in...nothing is solid, so stop acting like it is.
EDIT: So under NDA, it's actually okay to say 'No' to a character that IS in development, but if that character is happening it's more likely to be a vague response. Both Aubrey and Shinji fall under this, while O'Conner is a hard 'No' and is very likely a deconfirm though it could still not be. Under NDA you cannot say 'Yes' or 'Maybe', and Sora was likely no in development when we got that original 'Yes' comment but if he was, that would explain that removal of the tweet.