SiliconBeat

Late Friday afternoon Yahoo filed notice with the SEC that it gave Susan Decker a 62 percent raise five months ago to $815,000 a year, shortly after she was named president the same day Terry Semel resigned as the company’s chief executive, to be replaced by co-founder Jerry Yang.

She was also given new stock awards in late November that oddly begin to vest less than a year later on the ides of October. Decker was given two restricted stock grants Nov. 28 covering 210,000 shares that were worth $5.5 million the day they were awarded. All she has to do to get them is to keep showing up for work through October 15, 2009. She’ll get at least 100,000 of them if she just sticks around until October 15 of next year.

She was also given options to buy 300,000 shares of Yahoo at an exercise price of $26.20 the day they were granted, half of which also vest on Oct. 15, 2008.

But perhaps the sweetest part of Decker’s deal announced Friday was a little change made to the terms of an option granted to her back on May 31, 2006 good for 2.1 million shares of Yahoo with a strike price of $31.59 that has been underwater for most of its life.

The compensation committee of Yahoo’s board decided to extend the period during which Decker may exercise her shares to three years following the termination of her employment “for any reason.”

Typically company’s limit the period workers may exercise their options once they leave the company to 90 days. The limitation serves as an incentive for employees to stay with the company: as long as they do, they they may exercise their vested options any time.

Perhaps Docu-Drama readers can explain what corporate purpose is served by assuring Decker that she may continue to enjoy that privilege years after she stops being employed by Yahoo?

Could it be to help keep her on board for a while longer before Warren Buffett taps her for a bigger role (as his successor?) at Berkshire Hathaway, whose board she joined last March. In his annual letter to shareholders this year Buffett, 76, wrote, “We are lucky to have her,” adding that Decker, “at 44, is young — an attribute, as you may have noticed, that your Chairman has long lacked.”