As a former employee, I think this is exactly what happened. A handful of people made out big while keeping up appearances. The closer you get to the executive-level, the faster the turnover rate. I've never seen that before in ~10 companies I've worked with. The internal game is maintaining confidence to subordinates while quietly selling your stake. The external game is also all about maintaining confidence, using "adjusted EBITDA". But the GAAP numbers don't lie.