• In Brief

    Terry Semel's headline-twisting pay package

    0414 Terry Semel0414 Terry Semel-2 U DFinancial reporters need to go into conclave, and determine a common line on Terry Semel's compensation. Dow Jones, noting that Yahoo struggled against Google in 2006, goes with the rabble-rousing headline, Yahoo's Chief Pockets Millions in Options. With the same data, but a different spin, rival newswire, Reuters, opts to highlight the 50% decline in the chief exec's package: Yahoo slashes Semel's stock bonus. The bumbling internet company boss can be cast as corporate fat cat, profiting at the expense of shareholders; or else victim of those shareholders' wrath; but it's unfair, and confusing, to expect him to play both roles at the same time.

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