Marissa Mayer, Yahoo Inc.'s new CEO could earn up to $129 million by 2017, making her one of the highest paid CEOs in the country.
Mayer is getting an initial compensation package worth close to $60 million. This salary is big for any CEO, but also places Mayer in the position as having one of the largest salaries given to a woman.
In addition to the initial offering, Mayer, 37, has the potential of adding even more money to that amount, depending on how well she performs as CEO and how long she remains in the position. If she can in fact give the struggling internet company a face lift, this could bump up her salary that much more.
Based on a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday, Mayer is planned to earn the following:
- Annual salary: $1 million
- Potential annual bonus: $2 million
- Annual equity award: $12 million
- One-time retention award valued at $30 million
- A "make whole" stock grant worth $14 million to repay Mayer for what she lost after leaving Google
- Close to $50,000 a year for security expenses
Mayer's employment contract with Yahoo is on an "on at-will basis" according to the filing. For each new year Mayer stays in the position, she can gain up to $12 million in annual earnings and bonuses of up to $2 million.
"She's certainly going to be highly compensated if she succeeds," said Colin Gillis, an analyst at BGC Financial. "It's a multibillion-dollar company. If she creates value, it'll be a tiny fraction; if she doesn't, she'll be another one in a long line of Yahoo CEOs who had expensive compensation packages that didn't work out."
Mayer's appointment into the CEO role came as a shock as Yahoo interim CEO Ross Levinsohn was intially predicted to be next in line for the position.
