One thing to note, and this was seen with the Skype purchase, typically contracts as part of a private equity deal limit stock issued to lower level employees but also generally have an aggressive clawback clause.
The Skype one sounds like it wasn't such a weird deal. Those that got fired were rumoured to not get their options but in reality they did. Only someone that decided to quit voluntarily 13 months in didn't get an equity deal on the exit that happened later. And this wasn't a secret clause somewhere, those were the terms he had from the beginning.
I'm too lazy to find the best reference, but this is one re: Skype - https://www.businessinsider.com/skype-scandal-silver-lake-20...