Al Gore gets 10,387 more Apple options

Serving as a lightning rod for activist shareholders has its rewards

Al Gore took his lumps at Apple’s (AAPL) shareholders meeting Thursday.

Sitting in the front row with the other outside directors, he had to bite his tongue as two pro-environment proposals were voted down and a gadfly named Shelton Ehrlich took the mic to call him a “laughingstock.”

“The glaciers have not melted,” Ehrlich said, referring to Gore’s frequent warnings about the effects of global warming. “If his advice he gives to Apple is as faulty as his views on the environment then he doesn’t need to be re-elected.” (link)

But Gore is amply rewarded for serving on Apple’s board. Last year he received in cash and stock options the equivalent of $436,372. The 10,000 options he was granted in 2008 are now worth nearly $750,000.

And according to an SEC filing published Friday, he has just received another 9,397 options — more than any other director — in addition to 990 restricted shares. Net value of last week’s haul, including those restricted shares: more than $227,000 at Apple’s closing price of $204.62.

Below the fold: A summary of Friday’s SEC filings.

Steve Jobs already owns more than 5.5 million Apple shares and isn’t included in these annual distributions. Asked why there was no SEC filing for Avon CEO Andrea Jung, who joined the board on Jan. 7, 2009, Apple PR pointed us to the 1997 Director Plan detailed in Annex B of the proxy statement issued last month.

Gore has done well for himself since he left public service. In 2000, his net worth was estimated to be between $1 and $2 million. By 2007, it had reportedly reached $100 million. See here.