Gemstar CEO’s Options Worth Millions

Gemstar-TV Guide International Inc. said Chairman and Chief Executive Henry Yuen, who helped guide the publication distributor’s merger last year, received stock options that could be worth hundreds of millions of dollars if the stock gains 10% a year over a decade.

Yuen’s compensation package in the year ended March 31 also included a cash pay increase to $6.5 million in salary, bonuses and other pay, from $5.3 million in the previous year, the Pasadena-based company said in a regulatory filing.

Yuen, who started Gemstar in 1989, received options to buy about 3.5 million shares at an exercise price of $42.44 or $47.19 each--meaning they are now “underwater.” The shares, which have fallen 40% since the acquisition was completed, closed off $1.35 at $39.63 on Nasdaq. The options expire in 10 years.