"This weird researcher wouldn't follow orders, and I didn't dig deeper to understand his level of commitment or anything. If I had, I would've at least seen his level of dedication and possibly rallied to support him."
That's the best possible version, and highly unlikely since, as you noted, narcissism.
Anytime I see someone intelligently committed to a cause the way Nakamura was, I respect it and will support them however I can. Even if it doesn't pan out, it's still a good story.
Childish behaviour aside, the conservative decision to cut costs and shut down the research is justifiable to some degree. The only problem is that the GAN research path is well trodden by others already, and therefore, a smart CEO should see that it is also a dead end.
The more statically intelligent investment is to support exploration of the less exhaustively searched path.