Maybe some MBA did the math and is smarter than me or maybe they have different goals for esxi that extend beyond (having people and companies use it), but they have to realize free tier esxi is what the nerds and IT pros are going to use to hone their skills. And then those are the people that talk their companies into buying products.
Moves like this always seem so short sighted. 5 years from now you are going to see an uptick in proxmox setups or managed solutions using proxmox and other competitors.