Also important to note is the tax treatment of these shares. Depending on the jurisdiction, it's possible that he would be taxed on the value of these shares when they are exercised, and not when they are sold. In the example above, that would mean that he would owe taxes on $7M whenever they were exercised.
Check out something like https://smartasset.com/investing/how-do-stock-options-work or https://www.holloway.com/g/equity-compensation for more info. (I just found these by googling [guide to stock option compensation].)