For the US maybe. Income tax in the Netherlands (my country) in the top bracket is 52%. On the second hand, we have no capital gains tax so he might come out ahead when exercising options. On the third hand, we have a wealth tax of 1.2% on your entire capital above a certain floor (of about 20k) so he might not come out ahead in the end.
It's always interesting to see the opinions of different cultures about how much tax is reasonable :)
It's always interesting to see the opinions of different cultures about how much tax is reasonable :)