Hi Rafael - a bit of a 'double barreled' question here really. On the one hand, the publishing houses would not be in the business if there was nothing monetarily in it for them. On the other hand, it would be nice to think that ethically and morally, at least, some Board Members are in it to further academia, research, the boundaries of knowledge etc. That said, based on a more likely 'business model' - the former is the most likely.

Take the example of ResearchGate - and I hope that this does not get me into too much trouble. It partly sells its product on the basis of it being an ethical 'green open-access' commodity - but it's looking to make money where it can and will, no doubt, intensify that agenda the bigger it gets!!

There are many fake journals that will publish anything in order to get fees from researchers.  They certainly make money or they would not be in operation.

Legitimate journals largely live by subscriptions or maybe by fees paid by databases. 

Particularly journals that publish hard copies NEED to have money coming in.