Joseph Nelson
About Joseph Nelson
Joseph Nelson, age 41, is an independent director of DatChat, Inc. and has served on the board since August 2021; he brings a finance/investor-relations background and equity research experience to the board . He is currently CFO of Delta Corp Holdings Limited (since April 2022), and previously led investor relations for GasLog Ltd. and GasLog Partners LP; earlier, he was an Equity Research Analyst at Credit Suisse . He holds an MBA from NYU Stern and bachelor’s degrees in chemistry (BS) and philosophy (BA) from Stevens Institute of Technology . The board classifies Nelson as independent under Nasdaq rules .
Past Roles
| Organization | Role | Tenure | Committees/Impact |
|---|---|---|---|
| Delta Corp Holdings Limited | Chief Financial Officer | Apr 2022–present | Senior finance leadership |
| GasLog Ltd. / GasLog Partners LP | Head of Investor Relations | Dec 2017–Mar 2022 | Capital markets and IR leadership |
| Credit Suisse | Equity Research Analyst | Nov 2014–Nov 2017 | Sell-side research experience |
External Roles
| Organization | Role | Type | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Delta Corp Holdings Limited | Chief Financial Officer | Private company | Current operating role (not a board seat) |
Board Governance
- Independence and board composition: A majority of the board is independent; the board specifically classifies Joseph Nelson as independent. The board is five members, with four independent directors .
- Leadership structure: CEO Darin Myman serves as Chairman; the board has no lead independent director and views this combined structure as appropriate given company size .
- Attendance: In 2024, the board met 3 times; audit, compensation, and nominating/governance committees met 4, 1, and 1 times, respectively; no director attended fewer than 75% of meetings .
- Executive sessions: Independent directors meet separately without management on a regular basis .
| Committee | Nelson Member | Chair | 2024 Meetings |
|---|---|---|---|
| Audit | Yes | Wayne Linsley | 4 |
| Compensation | Yes | Wayne Linsley | 1 |
| Nominating & Corporate Governance | Yes | Wayne Linsley | 1 |
Fixed Compensation
| Director | Year | Fees Earned (Cash) | Stock Awards | Option Awards | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Joseph Nelson | 2024 | $36,000 | $0 | $0 | $36,000 |
- No meeting fees or additional equity grants to Nelson were disclosed for 2024; the non-employee director compensation table reflects cash fees only for Nelson .
Performance Compensation
- No director performance-based compensation (e.g., PSUs, performance cash, or option/RSU grants) for Joseph Nelson was disclosed for 2024; no performance metrics tied to director pay were presented .
| Metric | 2024 Disclosure |
|---|---|
| Performance-based equity/cash for directors | Not disclosed / None for Nelson |
Other Directorships & Interlocks
| Organization | Role | Type | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| — | — | — | No other public company board roles for Joseph Nelson were disclosed in the proxy . |
Expertise & Qualifications
- Finance and capital markets: CFO experience and multi-year leadership of investor relations in the energy shipping sector .
- Equity research background: Prior sell-side analyst experience at Credit Suisse .
- Financial literacy: All audit committee members meet Nasdaq financial literacy requirements; Linsley is the designated audit committee financial expert (Nelson is a financially literate member) .
- Education: MBA (NYU Stern); BS (Chemistry) and BA (Philosophy), Stevens Institute of Technology .
Equity Ownership
| Ownership Detail | Amount |
|---|---|
| Total beneficial ownership (incl. options exercisable within 60 days) | 10,000 (includes 10,000 vested stock options) |
| Percent of shares outstanding | <1% (asterisked as less than 1%) |
| Shares outstanding at record date (context) | 5,026,274 (as of June 12, 2025) |
- Vested vs unvested: Nelson’s beneficial ownership consists of 10,000 vested stock options; no unvested equity reported for him in the beneficial ownership table .
- Pledging/hedging: The company states it does not currently have a policy prohibiting employees, officers, or directors from engaging in hedging transactions (no prohibition), a potential alignment concern .
Governance Assessment
- Strengths signaling board effectiveness and engagement:
- Independent status with finance/IR and research expertise; serves on all three key committees (Audit, Compensation, Nominating/Governance) .
- Strong attendance: no directors below 75% meeting attendance in 2024; committees met as scheduled (Audit 4x) .
- Alignment and risk considerations:
- Compensation mix skews to cash—no equity grants to Nelson in 2024—limiting long-term alignment through ownership; beneficial ownership is modest (<1%) .
- No company-wide prohibition on hedging of company stock by insiders; this is an investor-alignment red flag if hedging is used .
- Combined CEO/Chair with no lead independent director reduces formal counterbalance to management at the board level .
- Related-party transaction disclosed at the company level involved the CEO and CTO (VR Interactive LLC stake in RPM Interactive) and did not involve Nelson; no Joseph-specific related-party transactions disclosed for 2023–2024 .
RED FLAGS: Absence of a hedging prohibition for insiders ; combined CEO/Chair with no lead independent director ; limited director equity alignment given cash-only director pay in 2024 and small beneficial ownership for Nelson .