This would absolutely crater if the c suite sold on form 4 and hence why they all are using this gifting BS. That's why that pumper analyst put those BS footnotes in his form 4 sells. Another of the too numerous to count red flags.....add these to the bucket. And people wonder why no legitimate analyst would touch this garbage.
Think you missed a key point on Form 4. The strike price of the gifted options is $0.35, so at the money rather than in the money. At present a "take the money and run" is not even possible, much less logical.
If the options go a fair ways in the money, then early exercise could make sense, but there is no reason to give up 5 years of time value now.