Ethics is really just scaffolding to explain how people interact. This reads as a rationalization for the ends justify the means, which might be considered a branch of consequentialist ethics.
It sounds to me like they were describing rational egoism / objectivism. Rand described the ethics of objectivism as:
"Man — every man — is an end in himself, not the means to the ends of others.
He must exist for his own sake, neither sacrificing himself to others nor
sacrificing others to himself. The pursuit of his own rational self-
interest and of his own happiness is the highest moral purpose of his life."
