Nick Nelson
About Nick Nelson
Nick Nelson is Chief Business Officer and Senior Vice President, Business Development at Nautilus Biotechnology, serving in this role since June 2021 after holding the same role at Legacy Nautilus from October 2020 through the closing of the Business Combination. He is 42 and holds a B.S. in Cellular and Molecular Biology from San Diego State University, with prior roles spanning R&D, technical service, sales, market development, and business management at Illumina, and corporate development and commercial leadership in oncology diagnostics at Trovagene (now Cardiff Oncology) and Caris Life Sciences . Company incentive outcomes for 2024 indicate no cash bonuses were paid under the Executive Incentive Compensation Plan due to performance below threshold targets, signaling a strict pay-for-performance framework in the most recent year .
Past Roles
| Organization | Role | Years | Strategic Impact |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nautilus Biotechnology, Inc. | Chief Business Officer and SVP, Business Development | Jun 2021–Present | Commercial leadership for platform commercialization; partner development |
| Legacy Nautilus (pre-Business Combination) | Chief Business Officer and SVP, Business Development | Oct 2020–through Business Combination close (2021) | Built pre-IPO BD infrastructure; supported transition to public company |
| Caris Life Sciences, Inc. | Chief Business Officer and SVP | May 2018–Jul 2020 | Oncology precision medicine BD leadership; partnerships and commercial strategy |
| Trovagene, Inc. (now Cardiff Oncology, Inc.) | VP Corporate Development | Mar 2015–May 2018 | Corporate development for oncology diagnostics/therapeutics; transactions and alliances |
| Illumina, Inc. | Roles across R&D, technical service, sales, market development, business management | 10 years (dates not specified) | End-to-end genomics commercial and technical operating experience |
Fixed Compensation
| Item | 2023 | 2024 | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Base Salary ($) | Not disclosed | Not disclosed | Nick Nelson was not a Named Executive Officer (NEO) in the 2024 proxy; detailed compensation is only reported for CEO, Chief Scientist, and CMO . |
| Target Bonus (%) | Not disclosed | Not disclosed | Incentive plan applies broadly to executives but NEO-level targets are disclosed; Nick’s target bonus not disclosed . |
| Actual Bonus Paid ($) | Not disclosed | $0 | Company determined no bonuses under the 2024 Bonus Plan for NEOs; Nick’s payout not disclosed, but overall plan paid zero to NEOs . |
| Equity Grants | Not disclosed | Not disclosed | Equity grants for NEOs in 2024 were stock options; company-wide award design applies, but Nick’s grants not itemized . |
Equity Award Design (company-wide program context)
| Program Feature | Detail |
|---|---|
| Plan(s) | 2021 Equity Incentive Plan; 2017 Plan closed to new awards; ESPP in place . |
| Award Types | Options, RSUs, performance awards permitted; NEOs received stock options in 2024 . |
| Exercise Price | Equal to closing price on grant date (Nasdaq) . |
| Vesting | Options generally vest over four years; subject to acceleration in certain termination/CIC events per plans . |
| Insider Trading Windows | Quarterly closed windows from quarter-end until third full trading day after earnings release; ad hoc blackout periods as needed . |
Performance Compensation
| Metric | Weighting | Target | Actual | Payout | Vesting/Timing |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Profiling milestones (corporate goal) | Not disclosed | Thresholds required to reach 75% attainment | Below threshold | $0 under 2024 Bonus Plan | Annual cash incentive (2024 cycle) |
| Commercial activities (corporate goal) | Not disclosed | Not disclosed | Below threshold | $0 under 2024 Bonus Plan | Annual cash incentive (2024 cycle) |
| Cash management (corporate goal) | Not disclosed | Not disclosed | Below threshold | $0 under 2024 Bonus Plan | Annual cash incentive (2024 cycle) |
- The Executive Incentive Compensation Plan allows cash awards based on performance goals set by the compensation committee; for 2024, company performance did not meet threshold targets, resulting in zero cash bonuses under the plan .
Equity Ownership & Alignment
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Individual beneficial ownership | Not individually disclosed for Nick Nelson in 2025 proxy; table lists directors, NEOs, 5% holders, and group totals . |
| Group ownership (directors & officers, 15 persons) | 55,294,615 shares; 41.1% of outstanding as of April 22, 2025 . |
| Hedging / Pledging | Prohibited for directors, officers, employees (no short sales, no public options, no hedging instruments, and no pledging or margin accounts) . |
| Trading windows | Closed quarterly windows from period-end to third full trading day after earnings; special blackout periods as needed . |
| Stock ownership guidelines | Compensation committee monitors compliance; company indicates monitoring of guidelines, specifics not detailed in proxy excerpt . |
Employment Terms
| Provision | Outside CIC Period | CIC Period | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Severance (cash) | CEO: 100% base salary; NEOs (Chief Scientist, CMO): 50% base salary | CEO: 150% base + 150% target bonus; NEOs (Chief Scientist, CMO): 100% base + 100% target bonus | CIC Agreements are disclosed for NEOs; Nick Nelson’s individual CIC/severance terms are not disclosed . |
| COBRA | CEO: up to 12 months; NEOs: up to 6 months | CEO: up to 18 months; NEOs: up to 12 months | |
| Equity acceleration | Not specified outside CIC | 100% acceleration for time-based unvested awards; treatment of performance awards per plan; no tax gross-ups | |
| CIC Agreement term | Initial 3-year term from July 31, 2023 (CMO: Sept 16, 2024); auto-renew for 1-year terms; extension to 12 months post-CIC if CIC occurs with <12 months remaining | Same | Applies to NEOs . |
- Equity incentive plans state options generally vest over four years; acceleration treatment depends on plan terms and whether awards are assumed/substituted in a transaction .
Governance, Policies, and Committee Oversight
- Compensation Committee: Independent directors (Chair Posard; Altman; Nazem; Akinsanya appointed post-annual meeting); responsibilities include executive compensation, equity plans, monitoring stock ownership guidelines, clawback policy oversight; held four meetings in 2024 .
- Equity Granting Policy: Avoids timing grants around MNPI; aligns grant dates with open trading windows; formal process for new hires and other awards .
- Insider Trading Policy: Prohibits short sales, options trading on the company, hedging instruments, pledging, margin accounts .
- Related Party Transactions: None disclosable since Jan 1, 2023; policy in place for review/approval of any potential transactions .
Investment Implications
- Transparency gap: Nick Nelson’s individual compensation, ownership, and severance terms are not disclosed in the 2024/2025 proxy because he was not a Named Executive Officer—limiting direct pay-for-performance and selling pressure analysis; Form 4 data would be required to quantify ownership and trading activity .
- Alignment safeguards: Company policies prohibit hedging and pledging and enforce structured grant timing and blackout windows, reducing misalignment and opportunistic trading risk .
- Incentive rigor: Zero payout under the 2024 Bonus Plan for NEOs indicates stringent performance thresholds; while Nick’s payout is not disclosed, the environment suggests limited discretionary cash bonuses, focusing retention on equity—particularly options with four-year vesting .
- Governance quality: Independent compensation committee oversight and absence of related party transactions support governance standards; no CIC tax gross-ups for NEOs is shareholder-friendly, though Nick’s specific CIC terms are unknown .