Yahoo 2007 Annual Report Download - page 127

2007, which had a grant date fair value of $3,731; and an award of 161 restricted stock units on December 31, 2007, which had a grant date
fair value of $3,745.
(8)
In lieu of cash, Mr. Kotick elected to receive payment of his committee chair fees for 2007 in the form of options to purchase the Company’s
common stock. Accordingly, Mr. Kotick was granted an option to purchase 359 shares on March 30, 2007 with an exercise price of $31.29,
which had a grant date fair value of $3,411; an option to purchase 414 shares on June 29, 2007 with an exercise price of $27.13, which had a
grant date fair value of $3,331; an option to purchase 419 shares on September 30, 2007 with an exercise price of $26.84, which had a grant
date fair value of $3,756; and an option to purchase 322 shares on December 31, 2007 with an exercise price of $23.26, which had a grant
date fair value of $2,754.
(9)
In lieu of cash, Mr. Kozel elected to receive payment of his committee chair fees for 2007 in the form of options to purchase the Company’s
common stock. Accordingly, Mr. Kozel was granted an option to purchase 838 shares on March 30, 2007 with an exercise price of $31.29,
which had a grant date fair value of $7,961; an option to purchase 967 shares on June 29, 2007 with an exercise price of $27.13, which had a
grant date fair value of $7,780; an option to purchase 978 shares on September 30, 2007 with an exercise price of $26.84, which had a grant
date fair value of $8,768; and an option to purchase 1,128 shares on December 31, 2007 with an exercise price of $23.26, which had a grant
date fair value of $9,647.
(10)
In connection with her appointment to the board of directors, Mrs. Wilderotter was granted on July 26, 2007 a nonqualified stock option to
purchase 30,000 shares of common stock with an exercise price of $24.03, which had a grant date fair value of $236,502, and an award of
10,000 restricted stock units which had a grant date fair value of $240,300.
EXECUTIVE OFFICER COMPENSATION AND OTHER MATTERS
Compensation Discussion and Analysis
The Company’s general compensation arrangements are guided by the following principles and business
objectives:
• Our people strategy is to hire and retain top talent in an extremely competitive marketplace, especially for
high-impact positions that directly contribute to stockholder value creation.
• We target our resources toward the highest contributors by focusing on high impact positions and
differentiating at all levels based on performance.
• We believe in broad-based equity compensation to align employee and stockholder interests, with greater
equity ownership concentrated among those who have the greatest impact on performance.
The Company’s compensation philosophy for executive officers is designed with these principles in mind and
is intended to achieve two principal objectives: (1) to provide a total compensation arrangement for executive talent
that enables the Company to attract and retain the key executive talent needed to achieve the Company’s business
objectives, and (2) to link executive compensation to improvements in Company performance, increases in long-
term stockholder value and individual performance and achievements.
In 2007, Yahoo! embarked on a transformation of the Company’s business and articulated three primary
strategic objectives that will form the core of our strategy and operations for the next few years: become the starting
point for users on the Internet; establish Yahoo! as the “must buy” for advertisers; and deliver industry-leading
platforms that attract developers. During 2007, there were significant changes to our executive leadership team.
Notably, our board appointed Jerry Yang, Yahoo! co-founder and long-time board member, to succeed Terry Semel
as our Chief Executive Officer, named Susan Decker as our President, and named Blake Jorgensen as our Chief
Financial Officer. In 2007, the Compensation Committee gave significant consideration to the retention of our
existing executive talent during this period of transition. Consideration was also given to the following significant
accomplishments during the year which were achieved through the leadership and oversight of our executive team:
• acquisition of Right Media Inc., an online advertising exchange, and BlueLithium Inc., an online global ad
network, to further the Company’s objectives in building the industry’s leading advertising and publishing
network;
• launching Yahoo! Search Assist, among the most advanced assistance technology on the Web;
• launching Yahoo! Go for Mobile 2.0, an innovative application that significantly enhanced the mobile
Internet experience for consumers through a unique product design, the ability to personalize with content
from the entire Internet, and an all new mobile search;
• launching the second phase of the search marketing system, known as Project Panama, by introducing the
new ranking model which allows ads to be ranked by quality and keyword bid price;
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