Unless the stock is granted in the form of RSU's or restricted...

Unless the stock is granted in the form of RSU's or restricted stock units, there is no value until the shares are actually sold. The actual share price, according to their documents online state that the strike price or the acquired price will not be fixed until they are formally voted on and approved at the board meeting that follows the grant. So, the lower the price goes prior to and up until the board meeting, the better it is for the CEO assuming the performance of the company and the corresponding share price both improve afterwards. In either case, it is better to own the shares at a lower number.