You are right to think charlatan. Bowie was a little like a Voltaire a century on, or even Gerald Ratner in a very different context. They were all such genuine people. All three seemingly had contempt for their sycophants or buying public.
Bowie died extremely wealthy whilst admitting once in a very unguarded interview: (I paraphrase) " for as long as suckers keep buying it, then I will keep writing it" or words to that effect. It did not end equally well for all of them. Ratner was more or less bankrupted overnight by his version of that admission! The other two got away scott free.