TLDR
- Ondo Finance founder Nathan Allman died in May 2026, leaving a leadership vacuum at the crypto firm
- His mother, Kathleen Allman, filed suit in Delaware court alleging Ian De Bode wrongfully seized CEO control
- De Bode claims he automatically became CEO under company bylaws after Allman’s death
- Kathleen Allman was appointed personal representative of the estate by a Hawaii court in late June
- On July 24, the Allman-led board voted to remove De Bode from all positions at the company
Ondo Finance, a crypto firm specializing in tokenized real-world assets, is at the center of a legal battle over who controls the company after the death of its founder.
JUST IN: The mother of Ondo Finance's late founder is seeking control of the company and the removal of CEO Ian De Bode.
Kathleen Allman alleges De Bode assumed the role without board approval.
She says she holds a controlling voting interest as representative of her son's… https://t.co/yUE3On1g4p pic.twitter.com/m2EJlBgAnR
— Coin Bureau (@coinbureau) August 6, 2026
Nathan Allman, who founded Ondo Finance in 2021 after working at Goldman Sachs, died in May 2026. He served as CEO, sole director, and controlling shareholder at the time of his death. The cause of death has been redacted from public court filings.
After Allman’s death, the company’s president, Ian De Bode, announced he would assume the CEO role. The company posted this on X shortly after Allman passed.
But Allman’s mother, Kathleen Allman, disputes that move. She argues that when Nathan died, there were no sitting directors on the Ondo board, meaning De Bode had no board approval to take the CEO position.
Three filings were made in Delaware’s Court of Chancery. They ask a judge to determine who legally controls the company and to block major corporate actions until the dispute is settled.
The core of the legal argument is timing. Kathleen Allman could not exercise her son’s voting rights until she was formally appointed personal representative of his estate. That happened through Hawaii probate proceedings on June 26.
De Bode’s Actions Before Probate Concluded
According to the complaint, De Bode used the period before probate concluded to take several corporate actions. These included hiring advisors, approving performance grants, and attempting to add a new director.
The estate says these actions were invalid because they required board approval that never happened.
De Bode has called the claims “meritless.” He said the company has the support of its lead investors, including Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund, Coinbase Ventures, Tiger Global, and Wintermute.
Kathleen Allman Takes Formal Action
After gaining authority to vote the estate’s shares, Kathleen Allman initially tried to work with De Bode. She appointed herself to the board, reaffirmed De Bode as president, and asked for basic company records including a shareholder list.
Those efforts stalled. She says De Bode and outside counsel refused to recognize her actions or hand over corporate records.
Kathleen Allman then expanded the board to four seats and appointed new directors. Nathan’s sister, Tahnee Towill, was among them.
On July 24, Allman and Towill voted to remove De Bode from all positions. Kathleen Allman was appointed chair, CEO, secretary, and treasurer.
The estate describes her role as temporary, aimed at stabilizing the company while a search for a permanent CEO takes place.
Ondo Finance recently named former Blockchain.com executive Adam Schlisman as its new chief financial officer. The company’s governance token carries a market value of nearly $2 billion.
The court has not yet ruled on any of the filings.
