$500 million!
Semel, a former Hollywood exec, was brought in to turn Yahoo into a global media company back in 2001. He floundered for years while Yahoo's market share shrank and Google grew into a formidable competitor. Semel has also been blamed for missing the chance to buy Google back in 2002, after he reportedly balked a the $3 billion asking price. Despite his failed leadership, Semel drew a salary that was as high as $72 million in 2006, and reportedly netted more than $430 million in total compensation from 2002-2007.
