$157.9M! Yahoo's Mayer wins no matter what

Matt Krantz | USA TODAY

Show Caption Hide Caption Who will buy Yahoo? Reports are swirling that Yahoo will sell its core search and display business, but is anyone waiting in line to buy it?

Yahoo's future — and CEO Marissa Mayer's role in it — is being debated this week. But one thing is for sure: Mayer wins no matter what.

Not surprisingly, given that Mayer is one of the country's best-paid executives, she has a lucrative change-in-control severance benefit in place. Her severance plan — which would kick in if she is terminated without cause due to a change of control of the company — would have been worth $157.9 million in 2014, according to a company tabulation in corporate filings.

The severance payment becomes much more important as Yahoo's board discusses potentially selling off all or parts of Yahoo's core Internet business. Currently, the businesses as part of Yahoo (YHOO) are valued at less than $0.

Mayer's latest change-of-control payout for includes:

Cash severance: $3 million

Continuation of health-care benefits: $24,331

Outplacement benefits: $15,000

Restricted stock acceleration: $66.5 million

Option acceleration: $88.3 million

Total: $157.9 million

The large change-in-control severance matches Mayer's massive salary. Last year, Mayer received total payment of $42 million, up from $24.9 million in 2013 - well above the median of $10.2, says compensation tracker Equilar.

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