Sure, the market for Internet advertising surged 20% in 2003. But Semel proved that Yahoo's resurrection goes well beyond an upturn in market conditions. Profits in 2003 grew 122% as sales soared 71%. The former Warner Bros. movie mogul has finally cured the Sunnyvale (Calif.) company's mergers-and-acquisitions migraine. Before the Internet bubble burst, Yahoo boasted an abysmal record for acquisitions, shelling out billions for duds like Broadcast.com and GeoCities. Since 2001, however, Yahoo has successfully acquired and integrated booming businesses, such as its 2002 purchase of careers site HotJobs.com and its 2003 deal for search bigwig Overture Services. "With Terry, we've made better calls...done better things," says Yahoo co-founder Jerry Yang. Says Semel: "So many things have become easier to see than they were five years ago." That's cause, in part, for the company's 113% return to shareholders in the past 12 months. Next up: a long-awaited showdown with Google.