Ondo Finance Inheritance Escalates Amid New Family Feud
The fight over the estate centers on ONDO tokens and control at the DeFi company, while Kathleen Allman’s mental and financial capacity is also being questioned in Hawaii.
Key Takeaways
- The succession battle around Ondo Finance is escalating as the family of founder Nathan Allman also becomes divided internally.
- In Hawaii, a limited conservatorship has been requested for Kathleen Allman over concerns about her financial and mental health.
- The estate includes a large stake in Ondo Finance and many ONDO tokens, which means the feud has a direct impact on control.
The succession battle around Ondo Finance has escalated further now that the family of late founder Nathan Allman is not only fighting acting CEO Ian De Bode, but is also splitting internally. In Hawaii, a petition has been filed to place Kathleen Allman, Nathan Allman’s 77-year-old mother, under a limited conservatorship because the petitioners say she is no longer able to properly manage her financial and business interests.
Inheritance With a Big Crypto Stake
The case centers on an estate with a large stake in Ondo Finance and a very large amount of ONDO tokens. According to the filings, this includes both unlocked tokens and tokens that will still be released over the next three years. That makes the family feud not just personal, but also directly relevant to control at a crypto company working on tokenizing real-world assets.
Nathan Allman died suddenly in May without a will at age 32. That left his estate, including his stake in Ondo Finance, in a legal vacuum. A probate court later named his parents, Kathleen Allman and Lawrence Allman, as heirs.
After his death, De Bode took over leadership at Ondo. Shortly after that, Kathleen Allman appointed herself and another daughter, Tahnee Towill, to the board, made herself chair and interim CEO, and tried to remove De Bode from all roles. According to a court order from September 3, he remains acting CEO and a board member for now.
New Allegations in Hawaii
The new filing in Hawaii comes from half-sister Dr. Lani Clinton and Ondo investor David Chen. They are asking the judge to review Kathleen Allman’s medical and mental condition. Clinton says in the filings that her mother has long struggled with alcohol abuse and a decline in her judgment, insight, and social cognition. She is also asking the judge to review medical records and determine whether dementia is involved.
Kathleen Allman denies the allegations. In a statement through her lawyers, she called the petition baseless and said the Hawaii filing was submitted by an employee of De Bode after earlier attempts to take control of Ondo were ruled invalid by the Delaware Court of Chancery, according to her. She says she remains focused on good governance and Ondo’s long-term development.
The filings also outline a conflict over power, compensation, and governance. In Kathleen Allman’s complaint against De Bode, she says he was working on an $11 million (€9.6 million) compensation package shortly after Nathan Allman’s death. That package would reportedly include an annual salary of $900,000 (€783,900), a signing bonus of $1 million (€0.9 million), and 26 million restricted token units worth more than $9 million (€7.8 million).
Why This Matters Beyond Ondo
For European crypto readers, this case shows how fragile governance can be at DeFi projects that rely heavily on a founder and that founder’s family. That is especially true at Ondo, because the company focuses on tokenizing U.S. Treasuries and stocks, which means it works in structures where management and control are especially sensitive. The outcome of this family feud could therefore also be watched outside Ondo as an example of how succession and control can go off the rails at crypto companies.
The broader market for tokenized assets is also growing fast. The rise of tokenized stocks in DeFi shows that this segment is attracting more and more capital, which makes the governance debate around Ondo even more relevant.
