chess.com was founded in 2007. lichess started in 2010. So chess.com was already an established player. The point is that creating a new chess site today would

chess.com was founded in 2007. lichess started in 2010. So chess.com was already an established player. The point is that creating a new chess site today would require to be better than lichess. If we look where Magnus Carlsen investment goes, they are all paid services (Play Magnus/chess24/chessable). He doesn't event try to compete with chess.com/lichess.