LOS ANGELES TIMES: The new chief executive could earn up to $129 million over five years, through salary, cash bonuses and stock awards.
Marissa Mayer,Yahoo Inc.'s new chief executive, could earn up to $129 million over the next five years, making her one of the country's highest-paid CEOs.
The compensation package, which was revealed in a regulatory filing Thursday, demonstrates the lengths to which the ailing technology firm went to lure Mayer from rival Google Inc.
The 37-year-old could make up to $85 million in salary, cash bonuses and stock awards over five years. She also will get $44 million in one-time grants, including a $30-million "retention" stock award and $14 million in restricted stock for forfeiting her current Google stock.
"She's certainly going to be highly compensated if she succeeds," said Colin Gillis, an analyst at BGC Financial. "It's a multibillion-dollar company. If she creates value, it'll be a tiny fraction; if she doesn't, she'll be another one in a long line of Yahoo CEOs who had expensive compensation packages that didn't work out."
Given that much of her pay is coming in the form of restricted stock or options, the ultimate value of the package depends heavily on the performance of Yahoo shares in coming years.
The Sunnyvale, Calif., company needed to offer Mayer generous compensation because "it's not easy to get people to come into the Yahoo mess," said James F. Reda of Gallagher Benefit Services Inc., a human resources consulting firm. However, "if she doesn't perform, the Yahoo board hasn't been too shy of getting rid of people." » | Walter Hamilton and Andrea Chang, Los Angeles Times | Friday, July 20, 2012
