Every single time matrix comes up, people make this argument like it's some sort of massive illumination. Guess what? Every protocol started with a single major stakeholder. The internet was the military, HTTP/2 was google, and JS was netscape.

The foundation is not a facade. It has a rather clear governance system, and while it is predominantly populated by Element employees, that's mostly because most people passionate about matrix end up working there. When the fondation was set up, it actually had a 50/50 split between community members and elements employees in the core team, but the community members ended up joining element.

What makes matrix a protocol is that absolutely anyone can implement it, and anyone can get involved in the process to improve the spec.