The chief executive of search engine giant Yahoo is to
receive an annual salary of just $1 (53p) for the next three years
– but his pay will be topped up with an annual bonus of up to a
million shares in the company.
The three-year deal agreed by Yahoo’s directors with chief
executive Terry Semel was revealed in documents filed with the US
Securities and Exchange Commission.
Semel has also been given a stock option to buy six million
Yahoo shares at exercise price of $31.59 as a retention
incentive.
The huge value of the Yahoo chief’s bonuses and options puts his
nominal salary into context. Figures from specialist research firm
Equilar, reported in a survey of top executive salaries by a US
newspaper, put Semel’s total earnings at $56.8m last year – a sum
that included restricted stock and the estimated value of Semel’s
share options.
Semel’s total earnings had dropped sharply from $131.2m in
2004.
The earnings figure dwarfs the $19.3m total package scooped by
IBM chief executive officer Sam Palmisano last year, which was
revealed in SEC finings in March.