Assuming that leaders of companies always have the best interest of the company in mind is dangerous. The type of personality that tends to succeed in the business world is probably also the type of person that is willing to shut down a company if it makes financial sense to do so, despite large job losses.
You're right - in that the only people who really got screwed when my .COM employer shut down was employees and investors, while founders and executives had already enriched themselves from the various financing rounds. So their willingness to fight was tempered by their desire for a long Caribbean vacation.
When the s* hits the fan at Groupon, will the founders want to fight, or will they look at the $1B they have in their bank account and decide to go to Italy for a while.
