> But if it is someone's project, why should they have to leave if governance doesn't go the way they wish?

Many projects start as someone's project, but become bigger than the one person.

If they keep it as one person's project, that's clear.

If there are other contributors, that's less clear.

If the project has a formal organization with governance, it's not the person's project. They might be grandparented in, like a vestige of a past monarchy, but the governance will evolve, to elections. The royalty will be kept for the tourism dollars.