New Yahoo CEO gets $19 million in '09 plus stock, bonus

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Yahoo Inc's new Chief Executive Carol Bartz will receive a compensation package of about $19 million in 2009, in addition to a bonus and stock options, according to a regulatory filing on Thursday.

Bartz's appointment, confirmed earlier this week, is seen paving the way for the Internet company to make decisions on major issues including a sale or search deal with Microsoft Corp.

Yahoo will pay Bartz an annual base salary of $1 million, as well as a $10 million equity-and-cash payment to make up for benefits that she will forfeit from her previous employer Autodesk Inc, according to its filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

She will also receive an annual equity grant, which in 2009 will be around $8 million to be granted in February, it said.

Bartz will also receive stock options for 5 million Yahoo shares, with a strike price to be determined on January 30. She is not allowed to exercise the options until the end of a four-year agreement, and they will only begin to vest when the share price is increased by 50 percent for a minimum of 20 consecutive trading days, the company said.

The new CEO also is eligible for a yearly bonus of around $2 million to as much as $4 million. The annual bonus will be determined by the board's compensation committee based on the company and Bartz's performance.

Under previous CEO and co-founder Jerry Yang, Yahoo rejected a $47.5 billion buyout offer from Microsoft nearly a year ago.

Yahoo's shares fell 80 cents, or 6.45 percent, to close at $11.61 on Thursday.

(Reporting by Ritsuko Ando and Yinka Adegoke; Editing by Andre Grenon)