Stockholders Vote Down Yahoo’s CEO Compensation Cut & China Censorship Proposal

Yahoo shareholders defeat exec pay/perform link from Reuters reports Yahoo’s shareholders have defeated proposals to cut Yahoo CEO Terry Semel’s salary and to practice anti-censorship policies in China and establish a human rights committee.

It was expected that there would be major pressure for Yahoo to tie Semel’s compensation package directly to company performance. Many people feel that Semel is overpaid when looking at the company’s performance in the 2006 fiscal year. With a 34 percent in favor and 62 percent against, Semel’s pay remains the same.

The anti-censorship and human rights proposal was also voted down. The proposal was specifically in reaction to Yahoo’s practices in China. This was voted down with only 4 percent in favor and more than 80 percent against the proposal.