New Yahoo CEO Scott Thompson pay package worth up to $27 million

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Yahoo picked EBay’s pocket when it lured away PayPal boss Scott Thompson as its new chief executive.

Now it’s lining Thompson’s pocket.

The new CEO, who officially starts at Yahoo on Monday, may receive a $27-million pay package, according to a regulatory filing late Friday.

He’ll get a base salary of $1 million and an annual bonus of as much as twice that depending on Yahoo’s financial performance with Thompson at the reins. Thompson is also getting an equity grant worth as much as $11 million, an ‘inducement grant’ of $5 million and a cash bonus of $1.5 million to make up for money he forfeited by leaving PayPal, not to mention stock incentives worth up to $22.5 million.

Thompson had a pay package of $10.4 million at PayPal in 2010, including a salary of $645,000. Numbers for 2011 are not yet available.

Thompson’s $1-million salary matches that of his predecessor, Carol Bartz. But her pay package in her first year at Yahoo was originally valued at $47.2 million.

Thompson is also joining the Yahoo board. He may not be the only new face there. According to a report in the Wall Street Journal, Yahoo has retained executive search firm Heidrick & Struggles International to hunt for new board members. The paper did not say which board members would be replaced.

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-- Jessica Guynn