If a reasonably successful company goes through its entire lifecycle from birth to death and fails to outperform T-bills or gold, it doesn’t usually mean that the company shouldn’t have existed at all. Along the way, it sustained salaries and work for many people, including the founders and executives and salaried employees. It provided products and/or services to customers, which improved overall human productivity and quality of life.
These businesses were often great for owner-operators and employees, and for customers, but not for outside passive investors.