Jim Voelker, InfoSpace’s CEO, was named the best paid chief executive in the Northwest by The Seattle Times after he received a total compensation package of $38.1 million in 2007. The package, which was nearly 15 times as high as the average Northwest CEO, was particularly astronomic due, in part, to the sale of its mobile unit to Motricity. The largest chunk of compensation—$12.1 million—was called a “make whole” payment, which came after the company’s stock sank to reflect a drop in cash reserves after a dividend was paid out to shareholders. Because Voelker’s exercisable options were suddenly worth about $21.6 million less, InfoSpace (NSDQ: INSP) cut him a check to make up for the loss, and to boot, the Bellevue-based company gave him $12.1 million to cover the taxes he owed as a result. That makes his annual salary and stock rewards of $400,000 and $3.9 million, respectively, pale in comparison. “I won because shareholders won. All our employees won, too,” Voelker told the Times. “If we deliver for shareholders and they actually get paid, then all of us, including the management team, should be paid as well.” In December, Motricity completed the acquisition of InfoSpace’s mobile unit for $135 million. Prior to that, InfoSpace sold its online directory business to Idearc for $225 million.

SEE ALSO: Infospace’s Mobile Division Sale To Motricity Complete; Motricity Raises $185 Million

Coincidentally, the second most-compensated exec in the Northwest also came from the telecom sector. It was Clearwire’s CEO Ben Wolff, who made $15.1 million in 2007 with options awards worth $12.1 million, and a salary of $705,462.

Here’s a PDF of the Top 5.