Ondo enters tailspin as late founder’s mother sparks power struggle with CEO
A disputed leadership handover has left the company with two rival power centers and the estate is asking a judge to decide who legally runs the company. Until a judge rules, the legal standing of the company’s contracts, spending and share issuance is in doubt.
Who are the two rivals aiming to run Ondo Finance?
Three complaints were filed on the 6th of August in Delaware’s Court of Chancery by Kathleen Allman, the mother of the late Nathan Allman, founder of Ondo Finance.
When Nathan Allman died in late May at 32, he held three roles at once: CEO, sole director and controlling shareholder, according to the complaint.
His death froze the company. His voting shares passed into his estate, so no one had the authority to exercise them, and with the single board seat empty, there was no director left to appoint a successor or call a meeting.
That deadlock continued until a Hawaii probate court made his mother administrator of the estate on June 26, handing her the voting power.
The estate is accusing Ian De Bode, Ondo’s former president, of using the gap before probate closed to install himself. According to the filings, De Bode took advantage of the bylaws to declare himself CEO, then leaned on a shareholder agreement to name himself sole director and started acting alone.
Kathleen Allman’s suit argues Ondo’s charter allowed the CEO vacancy to be filled only by a board decision, and since no board existed, De Bode’s appointment was void along with everything that followed.
De Bode also allegedly leaned on corporate resources to pressure Kathleen into signing documents cementing his control, and he and Ondo’s outside lawyers refused her request for a shareholder list.
Did the Allman estate attempt to resolve its ownership dispute out of court?
After gaining her voting rights, Allman did not immediately fire De Bode. She joined the board, put an interim operating policy in place to keep the business running, and kept De Bode on as president while asking for basic company records, all of which De Bode and Ondo’s counsel declined to recognize.
De Bode has called Allman’s claims “meritless” and her decision to sue “regretful.” According to him, Ondo still has the backing of “key stakeholders, including its lead investors and the Ondo Foundation.”
The Ondo board said in a statement that it remains focused on serving users “without interruption” while it searches for a permanent successor. The company also recently named former Blockchain.com executive Adam Schlisman as its chief financial officer.
Ondo, founded in 2021 and backed by Coinbase, Wintermute, Tiger Global and Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund, is leading the real-world asset market with about $3.5 billion in total value locked.
It runs products including the OUSG tokenized Treasury fund and the yield-bearing USDY token, but following the news of the dispute, ONDO fell about 6% over 24 hours to $0.35. The company is currently trading at roughly 84% below its December 2024 record of $2.14.
More than 10 million ONDO was reportedly moved onto exchanges as the news spread, with some transfers tied to Ondo team wallets, and put the two-day drop at around 9%.
Disclaimer: The content of this article solely reflects the author's opinion and does not represent the platform in any capacity. This article is not intended to serve as a reference for making investment decisions.
You may also like
Besant brings Peashooter to tank battle, US Treasury repo hits a wall, 10-year US Treasury yield at three-year high
U.S. Treasury bonds are currently facing multiple pressures, including high oil prices intensifying inflation, rising expectations of Federal Reserve rate hikes, soaring fiscal deficits, and large-scale corporate bond issuances. At the same time, the $6 billion buyback scale has fallen short of market expectations. While Bessent had previously made lowering long-term yields a policy goal, on Tuesday he admitted that it's impossible to change the "equilibrium" price of government bonds. Analysts pointed out that buybacks cannot stop the fundamentals-driven yield trends, likening it to "the Treasury bringing a pea shooter to a tank battle."
Apple (AAPL.US) Enters the "Foldable Screen Era": $1999 iPhone Duo Unveiled, AI Fully Integrated into Hardware Ecosystem
Apple held its annual fall product launch event on Wednesday, officially releasing the company's first foldable smartphone, the iPhone Duo. The event also saw the debut of the iPhone 18 Pro series, Apple Watch Series 12, Apple Watch Ultra 4, and AirPods 5, among other new products.
Oil prices return to $100, sparking inflation concerns as traders ramp up rate hike bets on European and UK central banks
As international energy prices continue to rise, intensifying market concerns about persistently high inflation over the coming year, traders are significantly increasing their bets on further interest rate hikes by the European Central Bank and the Bank of England.
Crypto prices
More
