Yahoo CEO Semel to Earn $1 Salary

Yahoo Inc. cut the salary of Chief Executive Terry Semel to $1 a year, matching Google Inc.’s CEO pay, and approved a long-term compensation plan with options for 9 million shares.

Semel, 63, will earn $1 a year through 2008 and be eligible for an annual bonus of as many as 1 million options, the Sunnyvale, Calif.-based company said Friday in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The change brings Semel’s salary in line with his peers at Google. In March, Google said CEO Eric Schmidt and co-founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page would each be paid a $1 salary.

Yahoo also gave Semel, who earned $600,000 in salary last year, options on 6 million shares at $31.59 each as a retention incentive. Yahoo shares fell 47 cents to $31.52 on Friday