Sure, the board has the prerogative to stick to that interpretation of its mandate if that's their motivation. But it looks like they won't have much of a company left if they do. Maybe they are fine with that, I guess we will see.
Would be interesting to see if those 700+ signatories will really give up their juicy PPUs and start over at Microsoft, if the board calls their bluff.
They'll be compensated in lieu probably given they already have competing offers that promise that