Aug. 16 (Bloomberg) -- Apple Inc. Chief Executive Officer Steve Jobs, who received $1 in salary last year, may reap a potential profit of $13.7 million by exercising options to buy shares.

Jobs bought 120,000 shares for $5.75 apiece this week, according to a regulatory filing yesterday. The Cupertino, California-based company gave Jobs the options under a 1997 plan for directors, according to an April filing. Jobs hasn't sold the shares and has no plans to do so at this time, Apple said.

He became ineligible for further directors' grants after taking the CEO job in 1997, reclaiming leadership of the company he founded after Macintosh computer sales slowed. Jobs was exonerated by Apple's board in December following a probe into the company's stock-options practices, which found the CEO had recommended backdating some grants.

Jobs, 52, co-founded Apple in 1976 with money raised from selling his Volkswagen bus, and was ousted in 1985 by John Sculley, the Pepsi-Cola Co. CEO he recruited.

Under his direction, Apple's revenue more than tripled over the past five years to $19.3 billion in 2006. He revived Apple's fortunes with the best-selling iPod music player and faster Macs, and this year introduced the iPhone, which combines the iPod's functions with an e-mail handset.

When Jobs took over again, Apple awarded him options for 55 million shares, adjusted for a subsequent split. The company canceled those in March 2003 after a three-year slide in the share price made them worthless. Instead, the board gave him 10 million shares of restricted stock, which vested in March 2006.

Options Backdating

Apple fell $2.85, or 2.4 percent, to $117.05 at 4 p.m. New York time in Nasdaq Stock Market trading. Jobs now owns 5.55 million Apple shares, worth about $665 million, based on yesterday's closing price. His options on the 120,000 shares would have expired Aug. 14.

The options were ``granted to Steve when he joined Apple's board of directors 10 years ago in 1997. They were set to expire this month, so Steve exercised them and plans to hold them,'' Apple spokeswoman Katie Cotton said. ``Steve has never sold a share of Apple stock since rejoining the company 10 years ago.''

The SEC in April sued two former top Apple executives over the backdating of options grants to boost their value. The regulator said the company provided ``swift, extensive, and extraordinary cooperation'' with the probe. Apple is the largest company with current or former executives targeted in an SEC lawsuit alleging the manipulation of stock options.

The company said in December that 6,428 option grants from 1997 to 2002 were backdated, including one to Jobs marked as approved at a board meeting that never occurred.

A special committee led by Apple board member and former U.S. Vice President Al Gore concluded in December that Jobs had recommended some favorable dates on options other than his own. Still, the probe found no wrongdoing by the CEO. Apple said it held ``complete confidence'' in him.

To contact the reporter on this story: Phil Serafino in London at pserafino@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: August 16, 2007 16:04 EDT