I don’t feel like it’s horrible. If one of your founding members is focused on getting rich quick while the rest are trying to invest in the company long-term, then his departure very well could have helped the company ultimately succeed.
Is it horrible to suppose that someone might not be well-suited to the task of driving a business from nothing to a national concern? Because I personally suspect that of most people, including myself, and don't think of myself as particularly mean-spirited.
Also, the offspring of the man in question identifies an aspect of his temperament that led to things turning out the way they did.