Between affiliate costs, rake back bonuses, sign up bonuses and thin margins in online poker in general, it is really tough to make money. It is not likely that any company/investor could take on that kind of debt and presume to make a dime.
All of these poker companies that are paying their managers and executives large salaries, operating out of lavish offices, spending millions on marketing and advertisement, etc, are all likely operating under a flawed business model. They are all ponzi schemes in one way, but then again, a bank does operate in a similar way. Is operating an online poker company any more a scheme then a bank? I am not one to speak well of the banking system, however I would have to say that the online poker industry is a far cry from legitimate. Currently, it is not regulated, there are no strict guidelines on how much escrow they need to keep, and quite honestly, there are plenty of unscrupulous characters in the industry.