The estate of late Ondo Finance founder Nathan Allman removed CEO Ian De Bode on July 24, escalating a corporate control dispute now before Delaware's Chancery Court. Kathleen Allman, the founder's mother and court-appointed estate representative, has appointed herself interim CEO while the board searches for a permanent successor.
Ondo Finance's controlling shareholder removed CEO Ian De Bode on July 24, escalating a $1.7 billion governance fight at the tokenized-asset issuer.
De Bode called the claims "meritless" and said the company has the support of key stakeholders including its lead investors and the Ondo Foundation. "The current leadership team remains fully committed to Ondo, its clients, the Ondo ecosystem, and Nate's vision for a more open, inclusive financial ecosystem," he said.
Three Delaware Chancery Court filings ask a judge to determine who lawfully controls the company and to bar extraordinary corporate actions until the dispute is resolved. Nathan Allman died in May as Ondo's CEO, sole director and controlling shareholder, but his voting power could not be exercised until his mother was formally appointed personal representative through Hawaii probate proceedings on June 26. The estate alleges De Bode wrongly claimed he automatically became CEO under the company's bylaws, elected himself sole director through a voting agreement, and began taking corporate actions including hiring advisors and approving performance grants.
The estate is seeking an expedited ruling because uncertainty over who controls the company could affect contracts, expenditures, equity issuances and other corporate decisions. ONDO traded at $0.35 as of 20:40 UTC on Aug. 6, down 2.9 percent in 24 hours, with a market cap of $1.7 billion, according to CoinGecko data.
After gaining authority to vote the estate's shares, Kathleen Allman initially sought a cooperative transition, reaffirming De Bode as president and requesting basic corporate information including a shareholder list. The estate said those efforts failed after De Bode and the company's outside counsel refused to recognize her actions or provide the requested records. Kathleen Allman subsequently expanded the board, appointed new directors including Nathan's younger sister Tani Towill, and at the July 24 board meeting voted to remove De Bode from all company positions while appointing herself chair and interim CEO.
Ondo Finance tokenizes traditional financial assets including US Treasuries, stocks and exchange-traded funds for on-chain trading. The company manages over $1.8 billion in tokenized assets and completed its acquisition of Oasis Pro in October 2025, gaining SEC-registered broker-dealer, Alternative Trading System and Transfer Agent licenses. Its investors include Founders Fund, Coinbase Ventures, Tiger Global and Wintermute.
The company announced earlier this week it had appointed former Blockchain.com executive Adam Schlisman as chief financial officer. The Ondo Board of Directors said it "remains committed to our founder Nate Allman's belief that onchain markets are the future of finance" and is searching for his successor.
The court has not ruled on the allegations, and the filings reflect only the estate's version of events. The governance uncertainty comes as Ondo competes with other RWA tokenization platforms including BlackRock's BUIDL fund and Securitize, which have been expanding their on-chain treasury offerings.
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.
