Kathleen Allman, the mother of Ondo Finance's late founder Nathan Allman, has sued in the Delaware Court of Chancery seeking to remove Ian De Bode as chief executive and establish her own authority over the company. The complaint, filed July 24, alleges that De Bode unlawfully seized control of the tokenization-focused DeFi firm following Nathan Allman's unexpected death in late May at age 32.
According to the complaint, Nathan Allman was the majority, controlling shareholder of Ondo Finance at the time of his death, and that voting power legally transferred to his estate. Kathleen Allman alleges that De Bode, who had served as the company's longtime president, wrongly claimed he automatically became CEO under Ondo's bylaws before probate had concluded, elected himself the company's sole director through a voting agreement, and began taking unilateral corporate actions — including hiring outside advisors, approving performance grants, and attempting to add another director to the board.
A board reversal
On July 24, the same day the lawsuit was filed, Kathleen Allman and a party identified as Towill voted to remove De Bode from his officer, employee and consultant positions at the company, appointing Kathleen Allman as chair, CEO, secretary and treasurer in his place. De Bode has pushed back publicly, telling The Block that the allegations are "meritless" and stating that the company continues to have the backing of its major investors, other stakeholders and the Ondo Foundation, the nonprofit arm associated with the protocol.
Stakes for a major tokenization player
Ondo Finance has built its reputation as one of the more prominent players in the real-world asset tokenization space, offering tokenized exposure to US Treasuries and other traditional financial instruments on-chain. A protracted corporate control dispute playing out in Delaware court creates uncertainty for a company operating in a niche — regulated, institutionally-facing tokenized finance — where trust in governance and leadership stability matters disproportionately to the partners and investors Ondo depends on. How quickly the dispute resolves, and whether it stays contained to a leadership fight rather than spilling into operational disruption, will likely shape how counterparties and token holders view the protocol's stability in the months ahead.
