Mailbox/Orchestra was not an acquihire for pennies; it was a normal acquisition for $100 million: http://techcrunch.com/2013/03/15/mailbox-cost-dropbox-around...

Mainly stock. They acquired the engineers for a tiny fraction of Dropbox's valuation. (Today: $10bn.)

I feel more badly for the people who used and loved the products.

Hard to feel bad for people who got a nice pile of money and a cushy job and probably more equity that can turn into another pile of money later...

Yeah, they're retired now