Heirs of the late Ondo Finance founder Nathan Allman have sued the current CEO of the tokenization company in Delaware court due to a legal ownership dispute.
The contested leadership handover has resulted in two competing power centers within the company, and the heirs are asking a judge to determine who legally runs the company. Until a court ruling, the legal validity of company contracts, expenditures, and stock issuances remains in question.
Who are the two rivals claiming control of Ondo Finance?
On August 6, Kathleen Allman, mother of the late Ondo Finance founder Nathan Allman, filed three complaints in Delaware's Chancery Court.
When Nathan Allman passed away in late May at age 32, he simultaneously held three positions: CEO, sole director, and controlling shareholder.
His death paralyzed the company. His voting shares passed to his estate, so no one had the right to manage them, and with the single board seat vacant, there was no remaining director who could appoint a successor or call a meeting.
This impasse lasted until June 26, when a Hawaii probate court appointed his mother as estate administrator, granting her voting authority.
Estate representatives accuse Ian De Bode, Ondo's former president, of using the gap in the estate administration process to self-declare his position. According to documents, De Bode invoked the company's bylaws to declare himself CEO, then, relying on a shareholder agreement, appointed himself as sole director and began acting unilaterally.
In her lawsuit, Kathleen Allman contends that Ondo's bylaws allowed the CEO vacancy to be filled only by a board resolution, and since no board existed, De Bode's appointment was invalid, as are all subsequent actions.
De Bode is also alleged to have used corporate resources to pressure Kathleen into signing documents cementing his control, and he, along with Ondo's outside counsel, refused her request for a shareholder list.
Did Allman's heirs try to settle the ownership dispute out of court?
After gaining voting authority, Allman did not immediately fire De Bode. She joined the board, implemented temporary operational policies to keep the business running, and kept De Bode on as president, while requesting foundational company documents that De Bode's and Ondo's lawyers refused to acknowledge as valid.
De Bode called Allman's claims "unfounded" and her decision to sue "regrettable." He stated that Ondo continues to have the support of "key stakeholders, including leading investors and the Ondo Foundation"
A statement from Ondo's board of directors said the company remains focused on seamless user service while searching for a permanent successor. The company also recently appointed former Blockchain.com executive Adam Shliserman as its CFO.
Ondo, founded in 2021 and backed by Coinbase, Wintermute, Tiger Global, and Peter Thiel's Founders Fund, is a leader in the real-world asset market with a total value locked of around $3.5 billion.
The company manages products such as the tokenized treasury fund OUSG and the yield-bearing token USDY, but following the dispute news, $ONDO shares fell approximately 6% over 24 hours to $0.35. It is currently trading roughly 84% below its December 2024 all-time high of $2.14.
Reports indicate that after the news spread, over 10 million $ONDO were transferred to exchanges, with some transfers linked to $ONDO team wallets, estimating a two-day drop of approximately 9%.
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