Yahoo boosts compensation for three senior execs

SAN FRANCISCO, March 7 (Reuters) - Yahoo Inc (YHOO.O: Quote, Profile, Research) said on Friday it has raised the salaries and cash bonuses for several of its most senior executives while leaving unchanged the token $1 salary it pays Chief Executive Jerry Yang.

The company, which is considering alternatives to Microsoft Corp's (MSFT.O: Quote, Profile, Research) unsolicited $40 billion-plus takeover bid for it, said in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that its board had voted to boost compensation for two executives.

President Susan Decker stands to receive $815,000 in salary, an increase from the $500,000 annual salary she has received since 2003. Decker was elevated to president last June in a management shake-up that led co-founder Yang to be named CEO.

She had previously served as chief financial officer, and, during an interim period in late 2006 and the first half of 2007, as the head of Yahoo's Advertiser and Publisher Group, the company's core sales generating business.

Decker also stands to receive a cash bonus of $1.1 million during 2008, up from $850,000 for 2007, according to various company filings.

The Sunnyvale, California-based company said it would pay Blake Jorgensen, Decker's replacement as CFO, a $500,000 salary and a cash bonus of $450,000 for 2008.

Michael Callahan, the company's counsel and corporate secretary, will receive an increased salary of $420,000 and be in line for a cash bonus of $225,000 in 2008. He was paid $360,000 in salary during 2007, according to company filings.

In May 2006, former Chairman and CEO Terry Semel, together with the board's compensation committee, changed policy to link substantially all of his total direct compensation to the performance of the company. Semel's annual salary became $1, down from $600,000 previously.

Yang, who owns around 4 percent of Yahoo's outstanding shares, has continued the policy of taking a $1 salary as CEO.

(Reporting by Eric Auchard, editing by Richard Chang)