Ondo Finance Control Battle Erupts After Founder Nathan Allman’s Death

Ondo Finance is facing a high-stakes corporate governance dispute following the death of founder Nathan Allman, with his estate accusing CEO Ian De Bode of improperly attempting to take control of the tokenized real-world asset company.

Three filings in the Delaware Chancery Court ask a judge to determine who legally controls Ondo Finance and restrict major corporate actions until the dispute is settled. The court has not ruled on the allegations.

According to the estate’s complaint, Allman died in May while serving as Ondo’s CEO, sole director and controlling shareholder. His voting stake then became part of his estate and could not immediately be exercised. His mother, Kathleen Allman, was formally appointed personal representative through Hawaii probate proceedings on June 26. Public filings redact both the size of the founder’s voting stake and his cause of death.

The estate alleges that before probate was completed, De Bode claimed he automatically succeeded Allman as CEO under Ondo’s bylaws. He allegedly used a voting agreement to appoint himself sole director and subsequently took actions including hiring advisors, approving performance grants and seeking to appoint another director.

The complaint disputes the legality of those moves, arguing that Ondo’s bylaws required board approval to fill the vacant CEO position.

After obtaining authority over the estate’s shares, Kathleen Allman appointed herself to the board, established an interim policy allowing normal business operations to continue, reaffirmed De Bode as president and requested corporate records. The estate alleges De Bode and outside counsel declined to recognize those actions.

Kathleen Allman later expanded the board and, during a July 24 meeting, voted to remove De Bode from company positions while naming herself chair and interim CEO. The filings describe her role as temporary while Ondo searches for a long-term successor to its founder.

De Bode called the lawsuit “regretful” and said Kathleen Allman’s claims are meritless, adding that Ondo’s leadership retains support from key stakeholders.

Ondo’s board separately said it remains focused on maintaining operations and advancing Allman’s vision for onchain finance while searching for his successor. The governance battle comes as Ondo Finance continues expanding its leadership team, including the recent appointment of former Blockchain.com executive Adam Schlisman as chief financial officer.