I was definitely a shareholder. I had early exercised some options, and reached my one year cliff. I believe your conclusion is correct. They shut down the company and sold off assets. The acquihire probably returned some money to the investors.

I spoke with (paid) two attorneys (employment and business) at the time and they said there wasn't much I could do. In the grand scheme of things it was small potatoes. I was pissed at the time though.