Former vice president, environmental activist, and longtime Apple board member Al Gore exercised stock options Tuesday to purchase 59,000 shares of AAPL for $7.475 per share. As of the close of the markets Thursday, Mr. Gore’s new stock acquisition is worth about $29,650,000 at a cost of only $441,000.
With Apple set to reveal its first fiscal quarter earnings next Wednesday, Mr. Gore’s move to exercise his options could become even more profitable if the market feels that it has already corrected for any negative news from the Cupertino company.
Mr. Gore also recently completed another lucrative transaction, when he sold the Current TV network, which he co-founded in 2002, to Qatar-based Al-Jazeera in early January for approximately $500 million.
Mr. Gore joined Apple’s board in March 2003. The company issued the former vice president 30,000 stock options shortly thereafter. Mr. Gore acquired tens of thousands of additional options at various times throughout his tenure on the board.
We can only imagine that Mr. Gore had this reaction upon completing the deal (with all credit to The Next Web for reminding us of this classic clip from The Simpsons):