Today, Yahoo! Inc., announced that CEO Terry Semel has joined the top 3 guys at Google in having his annual salary reduced to a mere $1 per year.
Before you bring out the hankies to wipe away any tears you might want to shed for Semel, rest assured that the stock options and grants that he is now eligible for should more than compensate him for the reduction of his salary from $600,000 to a measly dollar. Last year, for example, Semel made $173.6 million on the stock options he chose to exercise and that was on top of his $600,000 salary.
What’s up with this? Just another way for search companies to incentize their execs by making what they take home to their bank accounts dependent upon the performance of the corporation as a whole. Smart move … as long as they continue to make money that is. Don’t know that Semel will be too happy a camper if Yahoo! were to have an off year (not to mention Sergey, Larry and Eric at Google who also earn a buck a year). Anyone think Microsoft may hop on this bandwagon?
Posted on June 2, 2006
