Theory: the rumoured employee share purchase being prepared was, or at least was suspected to be, a ploy for liberating top talent from the shackles of their go

Theory: the rumoured employee share purchase being prepared was, or at least was suspected to be, a ploy for liberating top talent from the shackles of their golden handcuffs, so that they can leave and work at a new org with a different structure. If the board had good reasons to believe they have been deceived about something along these lines they would have had no choice but to act as they did.