https://www.barrons.com/articles/al-gore-bulks-up-on-apple-stock-at-a-discount-51548779357
Al Gore used a financial instrument to acquire a substantial number of Apple (ticker: AAPL) shares for a discount.
The former vice president has been a director at the iPhone maker since 2003. A form Gore filed to the Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday night shows that he converted Apple stock options into 35,000 shares, paying $14.52 each for a total of $508,100. The process of converting options into stock is known as exercising options. The exercise price is less than a tenth of the current market price for Apple stock, which was trading at $157.67 Tuesday morning. At that price, the shares Gore acquired through options are worth $5.52 million. He now owns 79,175 Apple shares.
The options Gore used were awarded to as part of directors’ compensation. They have been exercisable since March 2009 and weren’t set to expire until this March. About a year ago, in February 2018, Gore also exercised options to acquire 35,000 shares.
A spokesman for Gore declined to comment on the options exercise.
Gore last sold Apple stock in February 2017. SEC records show Gore sold 215,437 Apple shares for $29.5 million, or $136.72 each, on Feb. 22, 2017. Of note, three weeks earlier, on Feb. 2, 2017, Gore exercised options for 70,000 Apple shares and sold them the same day for $9 million, or an average of $128.35 each.
Gore, along with the seven other Apple directors, is up for reelection at the company’s March 1 shareholders meeting. He is the second-least popular Apple director, judging by the number of votes against his directorship last year.
