Yahoo! shareholders send a message

Yahoo Inc (NASDAQ: YHOO) shareholders sent a symbolic message yesterday about the heft of Chief Executive Terry Semel's $71.7 million paycheck, which was more than double that of any other Silicon Valley CEO last year, according to the San Jose Mercury News.

Three top advisory firms have been urging institutional shareholders to vote against three members of Yahoo's compensation committee, one-third of the investors voted against the slate of directors at the annual meeting, up significantly from 2005, when nearly one-fifth of the investors withheld their votes for directors after a similar campaign.

About one-third of investors also backed a union pension fund's proposal to tie pay more closely to performance.

Reacting in part to shareholder discontent, Yahoo's board approved a controversial package in May 2006 that slashed Semel's salary from $600,000 to $1 but awarded him 6 million options to carry him through a three-year period. Those options were valued at more than $71 million.

Semel has cashed in a total of $446 million in gains since taking charge in 2001. During this time, Google Inc (NASDAQ: GOOG) has come to dominate many aspects of Internet searching and advertising.

Meanwhile, investors continue to look for any signs of success from Project Panama.