Forget his "wild-child" daughter — how much is Terry Semel worth?
The New York Post likes to run "blind items" — a gossip-column tradition where just enough details are given to help readers guess who's being talked about. Here's the latest:
WHICH wild child daughter of an Internet billionaire has major problems? The lady-loving gal has been to rehab twice and still doesn't show any sign of slowing down.
Well, we're pretty sure the Post is talking about Courtenay Semel, daughter of Terry Semel, the Yahoo CEO. Courtenay was recently seen palling it up with Lindsay Lohan. Forget that: Here in Silicon Valley, money is the new sex, so it's the "Internet billionaire" part that intrigues us.
Sure, Semel made a ton of money prior to Yahoo as CEO of Warner Bros. But to be an Internet billionaire, Semel would have had to made a billion dollars off Internet stocks, right? Not even close: In 2004 and 2005, while Yahoo shares were rallying, Semel sold $403 million worth of Yahoo stock. Since then, he's made about $60 million by exercising options and selling shares. He now owns 1.6 million shares in the company, whose shares are trading at $24. Forbes doesn't even include him on its list of billionaires. Our conclusion? When we run blind items about him, we're going to call Semel the "non-Internet nonbillionaire."