by , 11:55 AM EDT, August 16th, 2007

Apple CEO Steve Jobs exercised an already approved option to buy company stock earlier this week and managed to gain 120,000 shares at US$5.75 each. The purchase was part of a 1997 deal when Mr. Jobs was a company director and not yet CEO, according to Bloomberg.

The required regulatory filing documenting the transaction was completed on Wednesday.

Even though the company's stock is much lower now than it has been over the past few weeks, Mr. Jobs still landed a nice deal. The price he paid for the stock is over $100 less than the current market value.

Apple was the focus of a stock options backdating investigation earlier this year that left many investors concerned that Mr. Jobs could find himself in serious legal trouble. An independent investigation by the company cleared him of any wrong doing, and the government seems to have agreed with the findings.

Apple is currently trading at $114.3701, down 5.5299 (4.61%).