No connection at all. I'm almost certain they didn't get exercised. The value of options is in the time value and these have 5 years on them. The people who gifted them believe in the future value of the company. Sorry to break it to you but it's not a scam and they hardly think it's a good idea to cash out anything at the 52-week low. As long as the options are not exercised and stock sold, zero impact on trading. Most people don't even know what the strike price is. So how are they going to influence today's trading, please explain your theory.
Why are you so obsessed with this? Don't you know how much wealth has been generated for so many via stock options in tech and biotech, down to ordinary engineers? The whole economy of NorCal and other tech hubs has been massively goosed in the last 30 years by stock options and massive inflation in the value of so many tech companies. Personally I think the true up was a bit overdone but the votes show that almost nobody agrees with me. If it upsets your personal sense of value you need to get over it - you are seeing nothing if that skews your view completely. jmo.
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