Dec. 20 (Bloomberg) -- Apple Inc. gave Tony Fadell, the head of its iPod unit, a stock grant valued at $9.22 million.

Fadell received 50,000 restricted stock units on Dec. 17, Cupertino, California-based Apple said in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The shares can be exercised in March 2010.

Apple has sold more than 119 million iPods since introducing the digital-media player in 2001. The device accounted for about a quarter of the company's sales last quarter. Fadell was the first member of the iPod hardware engineering team when he joined Apple in 2001, according to the company's Web site.

Apple shares closed at $184.40 on the day Fadell's grant was awarded. The stock, which has more than doubled this year, rose $4.09 to $187.21 at 4 p.m. in Nasdaq Stock Market trading.

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

Last Updated: December 20, 2007 17:20 EST