It's easy to save the world when you've already taken care of yourself. But, we rely on these mavericks -- the wealthy who realize they can make a difference -- to do what we cannot on our own. So, it comes as a relief that Bill Gates, founder of Microsoft (MSFT) believes executive compensation is still too high.

It's a murky topic, and some forms of regulation, Gates believes, won't help. In a discussion on philanthropy at the 92nd Street Y in Manhattan, where many of the people Gates criticized send their kids for early education, the former CEO and still rich guy cites the $1 million executive salary cap required by law in 1993 as a big mistake. While compensation has to be controlled, he believes this measure backfired and thinks that other, similar efforts are doomed to fail now.

This post is written as part of AOL Money & Finance's Best & Worst 2006. Vote for Terry Semel or check out the other overpaid CEOs.

Oh, how the mighty have fallen. Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ:YHOO) CEO went from a salary of $600,000 in 2005 to $1 in 2006 through 2008. You feel like crying, I'm sure. No need, I assure you. Over the past three years, Semel has made $429 million selling 18.1 million of his stock options. Sweet, no?

In addition, Terry S. Semel, who took over the reins at Yahoo! after a successful stint at Warner Bros. -- where he is credited with growing the company from $1 billion to nearly $11 billion in total revenues -- was named by Fortune as the sixth highest paid executive in 2005, with a total compensation of $56.8 million.

In June of this year, Yahoo! announced that Semel will be joining other executives earning $1, like the top management team at Google Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) and Steve Jobs, Apple Computer's (NASDAQ:AAPL) chief. Instead of a salary, Semel opted for 6 million stock options at an exercise price of $31.59 per share, as well as the opportunity to receive up to 1 million additional stock options each year. Semel also maintains over 17 million stock options, as well as a sizable chunk of Yahoo! stock.

The question is whether he is worth all that. When Semel became Yahoo! CEO in 2001, reactions were mixed. The Hollywood figure was seen by some as old school media, while others deferred to his focused, structured approach. And indeed, YHOO stock price rose some 300% from May 2001 to the end of 2005. This year, however, YHOO share price fell more than 30%.