Two proxy consulting firms, Proxy Governance Inc. and Institutional Shareholder Services, said that Yahoo! (NASDAQ: YHOO) shareholders should withhold support for members of the company's compensation committee. They reason that Terry Semel was paid too much. By their calculations, which includes stock grants and bonuses, Semel made $107.5 million. Nice work, if you can find it.
Based on studies of "peer group" companies, which would include Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) and Google (NASDAQ: GOOG), Semel's pay is 926% above the mean compensation.
Mr. Semel has already proven that he can be ham-handed with Wall Street. He was enthusiastic about first half 2007 earnings. The first quarter was poor and forecasts for the second were disappointing. The only action keeping the stock up would appear to be rumors of a bid for the company from Microsoft.
Semel has also missed out on the chance to buy DoubleClick and Feedburner, two companies that could have added to Yahoo!'s marketing arsenal. Google ending up the winner in bidding for both companies.
Yahoo!'s net income in the first quarter was $124 million, almost as much as Mr. Semel made in the previous year.
Douglas A. McIntyre is a partner at 24/7 Wall St.
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