Yahoo's $96 Million (Fired) Man -- And Three More Dudes for the Board

Yahoo released a proxy filing today that spelled out exactly what its COO Henrique De Castro made for his 15-month tenure before being fired by CEO Marissa Mayer in January for poor performance: Roughly $96 million.

Most of De Castro’s wealth was in stock options that rapidly increased in value, received when Mayer touted him upon hiring as the person to turn around the Silicon Valley Internet giant’s growth problem.

Currently, according to the filing, De Castro now owns or has options to own close to 2.4 million Yahoo shares, worth $86.4 million today due to the appreciation in the stock. He also had a multi-million-dollar salary in his time there and other payments and benefits.

(While many media outlets used the number Yahoo handed out that was lower at about $59 million — since this was the cost to Yahoo — both Re/code and the New York Times came up with the higher number that it is actually worth.)

To show that, here’s the photo from the proxy about De Castro’s stock ownership and its explanation:

Well, at least revenue rose one percent in the first quarter, as Yahoo reported yesterday, a very small but potentially promising achievement for which De Castro should get at least some credit.

Plus all that money, which was higher than the $62 million Mayer made in 2012 and 2013. While De Castro gave up a big slug of his options, she still has an even bigger one.

Speaking of paying men, as I reported it might this week, Yahoo named three new directors. The board has suffered some departures, leaving it at only four outside directors and Mayer. The additions are Yahoo co-founder David Filo, who has been close to Mayer since she arrived; Charles Schwab, the famous discount brokerage kingpin; and Lee Scott, who recently stepped down as CEO of Walmart. Mayer is on the Walmart board.

Not the most dynamic choices, but solidly corporate — and everyone likes Silent Dave.

While Filo is a big Yahoo shareholder and will get only $1 for his services — is it just me or does this quaint practice feel cooked now? — the others will each get about $300,000 in stock and cash.

This article originally appeared on Recode.net.

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