A number of influential organizations, such as the advisers at Institutional Shareholders Services, think a shakeup isn't such a bad idea. ISS has taken Yahoo's board of directors to task for the last two years for Semel's compensation package, asking that it be tied more to the company's performance. But the board argued that the package (Semel has reportedly earned $450 million in six years at Yahoo) was justified in order to retain his talent.

"They just furnished a massive compensation package to Terry and then turned around and terminated his tenure. It begs the question about whether there's some intelligent design behind the program," said Patrick McGurn, executive vice president at ISS.