The Nasdaq's sharp dive in March deflated the exuberance over Internet stocks, causing investors to take a hard look at business models and delaying many initial public offerings. Executives are still receiving a huge portion of their compensation in stock grants, but with stock prices down from last year's highs, those options might not be exercised for a while. Considering the boon shareholders at Cisco have enjoyed, Chambers is a bargain, said Martin Katz, practice leader for executive compensation at William M. Mercer Inc. in San Francisco. Chambers has led the company to revenues and profits that have continually exceeded analysts' estimates. Cisco employees and stockholders have reaped the benefits.
All hires get stock options when they walk in the door, and many have become millionaires.
The company's stock has increased an average of 100 percent a year since it went public in 1990. Yahoo's stock has fallen sharply since then. The shares were given to her as partial compensation for stock and options that she forfeited when she left Lucent Technologies to work for Hewlett-Packard last July. Other bosses in the Top 10 included Mark Logan, CEO of Visx Inc., the company that developed technology for laser vision correction. Cecil, who led the company to become the world's leading maker of telephone headsets, died in December.