I wont feign any deeper understanding here, but wouldn't it have been just as bad (and perhaps worse??) if they had been public over the last couple years?

I.e., wouldn't the public market have shredded their stock apart even more if this is how even the private financial markets are handling their current positions/views of the business?

I suppose if the goal was to create a big exciting exit event for employees and private shareholders a 2019 IPO would have been great, but I'm imagining a bunch of that wealth is wiped out by a downturn in public prices too.