March 24 (Bloomberg) -- Apple Inc. board member Al Gore, the former U.S. vice president, got an option to buy 10,000 shares of the computer maker's stock.

The exercise price is $129.67 a share, Apple's closing price on March 19, according to a regulatory filing. The option expires in 10 years.

Gore, who joined Apple's board in 2003, has raised his profile in the technology industry since his unsuccessful bid for president in 2000. He advises Google Inc. and venture capital- firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers. He also co-founded Current Media Inc., a San Francisco-based cable channel that plans to raise $100 million in an initial public offering this year.

At Cupertino, California-based Apple, he serves on the compensation committee and the nominating and corporate- governance committee. Gore, 59, led a special probe that investigated Apple's stock-option practices in 2006. While some options were misdated, the committee cleared Chief Executive Officer Steve Jobs of any intentional wrongdoing.

Apple, maker of the Macintosh computer and iPod media player, rose $6.26, or 4.7 percent, to $139.53 at 4 p.m. New York time in Nasdaq Stock Market trading. The shares have lost 30 percent this year.

In January, Gore exercised options to buy 1,000 shares at $7.48, reaping a potential profit of more than $124,000.

To contact the reporter on this story: Connie Guglielmo in San Francisco at cguglielmo1@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: March 24, 2008 17:19 EDT