Nicholas Tatum
NERDWALLETAbout Nicholas Tatum
Nicholas “Nik” Tatum is Chief Accounting Officer (CAO) of NerdWallet (NRDS), appointed effective March 2025, and served as interim CFO and principal financial officer from March 8–16, 2025; he is age 40, a Certified Public Accountant, and has a B.S. from the University of Maryland . He joined NerdWallet in August 2022 as Corporate Controller before elevation to CAO . Company performance around his tenure shows revenues rising from $183.8M in Q4 2024 to $215.1M in Q3 2025; EBITDA improved, while net income normalized from $38.6M in Q4 2024 to $26.3M in Q3 2025 [GetFinancials: Revenues Q4 2024–Q3 2025; Net Income citations embedded below] .
Past Roles
| Organization | Role | Years | Strategic Impact |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under Armour, Inc. | Senior Director, Corporate & Global Accounting | 2015–2022 | Led corporate and global accounting functions |
| Millennial Media | Director, Financial Reporting | 2013–2015 | Directed financial reporting responsibilities |
| PricewaterhouseCoopers | Various roles | Not disclosed | Audit/finance experience (roles noted; timing not disclosed) |
External Roles
| Organization | Role | Years | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| None disclosed | — | — | No public company directorships or external roles disclosed in proxy/8-K for Tatum |
Fixed Compensation
| Component | 2024 | 2025 | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Base Salary | Not disclosed for Tatum | Not disclosed for Tatum | Compensation decisions for executive officers are overseen by the Compensation Committee; CEO/CFO details are provided, but Tatum’s specific cash compensation was not included as he was not a 2024 NEO . |
| Target Bonus % | Not disclosed for Tatum | Not disclosed; executives will participate in 2025 annual cash incentive plan | Plan metrics: revenue-related growth and non-GAAP operating income . |
| Actual Bonus Paid | Not disclosed for Tatum | Not disclosed for Tatum | CEO bonus was certified for 2024 based on plan metrics; Tatum-specific payout not disclosed . |
Performance Compensation
| Incentive Type | Metric | Weighting | Target | Actual | Payout | Vesting |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Annual Cash (2025) | Revenue-related growth | Not disclosed | Not disclosed | Not disclosed | Not disclosed | N/A (cash) |
| Annual Cash (2025) | Non-GAAP operating income-related metric | Not disclosed | Not disclosed | Not disclosed | Not disclosed | N/A (cash) |
| Equity Award Policy (context) | Equity grant timing and MNPI safeguards | — | — | — | — | Committee does not time awards around filings; options not granted during blackout windows noted for 2024 NEOs . |
- Company earned 164% of target for 2024 PSOs/PSUs at the company-level; this disclosure pertains to NEO grants and aggregate plan accounting, not to Tatum specifically .
Equity Ownership & Alignment
| Item | Tatum Status | Company Policy/Context |
|---|---|---|
| Total Beneficial Ownership | Not disclosed for Tatum in proxy tables (NEOs/directors listed; group aggregate provided) | Security ownership tables focus on directors/NEOs; Tatum not individually listed . |
| Ownership % of Shares Outstanding | Not disclosed | Total shares outstanding: 74,492,046 (Class A 42,806,394; Class B 31,685,652) . |
| Vested vs. Unvested Breakdown | Not disclosed | — |
| Pledging/Hedging | Prohibited for officers, directors, employees (no pledging, short sales, derivatives, hedging) | Insider Trading Policy bans pledging, short sales, options/derivatives, hedging . |
| Stock Ownership Guidelines | No formal guidelines for executive officers; CEO/CFO agreed to 6x/4x total annual cash comp holdings | No formal policy; voluntary CEO/CFO multiples disclosed; no Tatum-specific guideline . |
| Clawback (Recovery) | Applies to current/former Section 16 officers upon restatement per Rule 10D-1 | Compensation Recovery Policy effective Oct 2, 2023 mandates recovery of erroneously awarded incentive comp . |
| 10b5-1 Plans / Insider Selling | Not disclosed for Tatum; Section 16(a) late filings noted for other officers (tax withholding RSU events) | Administrative late Form 4s on Sept 6, 2024 for Chen, StClair, Yount due to tax withholding upon RSU vesting . |
Employment Terms
| Term | Detail |
|---|---|
| Employment start at NerdWallet | Joined August 2022 as Corporate Controller; appointed CAO March 2025 . |
| Interim CFO service | Principal financial officer March 8–16, 2025 (until new CFO effective March 17, 2025) . |
| Employment agreements | Company indicates “No Employment Agreements”; compensation set via Committee oversight . |
| Severance/Change-of-Control (company policy) | Policy effective June 16, 2021, auto-renewed June 16, 2024; Qualifying Termination: lump sum base for 6 months; COBRA; if within 3 months pre- and 12 months post-CoC, severance period 12 months, target bonus paid, and time-based awards accelerated (amended Mar 15, 2023 to full vesting on CoC termination; no prorated target bonus for non-CoC termination) . |
| Executive bonus program (context) | 2025 executive officers will participate in annual cash incentive plan based on revenue-related and non-GAAP operating income metrics . |
| Clawback policy | Compensation Recovery Policy effective Oct 2, 2023 applies to Section 16 officers, requiring recovery after certain restatements . |
| Anti-hedging/pledging | Officers prohibited from pledging, hedging, short sales, and derivatives on company stock . |
| Related party transactions | None in 2024; policy governs review and approvals . |
Performance & Track Record – Company Metrics During Tatum’s Tenure
| Metric | Q4 2024 | Q1 2025 | Q2 2025 | Q3 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenues ($USD Millions) | 183.8 | 209.2 | 186.9 | 215.1 |
| EBITDA ($USD Millions) | 13.8* | 4.5* | 14.5* | 38.4* |
| Net Income ($USD Millions) | 38.6 | 0.2 | 8.2 | 26.3 |
*Values retrieved from S&P Global.
Compensation Committee & Governance Context
- The Compensation Committee (Chair: Lynne M. Laube; member: Kenneth T. McBride) is composed solely of independent directors and is advised by Frederic W. Cook & Co., Inc. .
- NRDS is an “emerging growth company” and is exempt from non-binding say‑on‑pay votes and certain pay disclosures (e.g., CEO pay ratio), explaining reduced compensation detail for non‑NEO executives like Tatum in the proxy .
Investment Implications
- Alignment and risk: Anti-hedging and anti-pledging rules, plus the clawback policy, reduce misalignment and hedging/pledging red flags; however, lack of disclosed individual ownership and pay specifics for Tatum limits direct assessment of his personal skin-in-the-game and pay-for-performance alignment .
- Retention risk: Elevation from Corporate Controller to CAO and brief interim CFO role signals internal trust and succession resilience; absence of a personal employment agreement aligns with company policy, and severance/change‑of‑control mechanics exist at the company level but Tatum’s individual eligibility is not specified in filings .
- Trading signals: No Form 4 activity disclosed for Tatum in proxy, and Section 16(a) late filings cited for other officers were administrative (tax withholding), not discretionary selling; combined with prohibitions on hedging/pledging, near‑term insider selling pressure from Tatum appears low based on available disclosures, but ownership/vesting detail is missing .
- Execution backdrop: Company‑level performance metrics used for 2025 incentives (revenue growth and non‑GAAP operating income) suggest at‑risk pay linkage for executives, while the recent quarterly trajectory provides a constructive operating backdrop; investors should monitor future proxies/8‑Ks for Tatum’s specific compensation grants and ownership updates to refine alignment and retention views .