Tokenization platform Ondo Finance has firmly denied a report that it was pitched to prospective buyers in the wake of founder and CEO Nathan Allman’s unexpected death earlier this year.
According to people familiar with the matter, outreach to potential acquirers took place sometime after Allman died on May 25 at age 32, without a will. His unexpected passing threw the fate of his controlling stake — and a substantial holding of ONDO tokens — into legal limbo. It remains unclear exactly who initiated contact with potential buyers.
The uncertainty deepened in early August, when administrators of Allman’s estate sued Ondo’s acting CEO, Ian De Bode, accusing him of improperly seizing control of the company and its funds. That dispute triggered a heated fight over who actually runs Ondo. Following probate, Allman’s estate was awarded to his parents, Kathleen and Lawrence Allman, aged 77 and 82 respectively. A separate petition — filed by Allman’s half-sister and an Ondo investor — is also seeking to limit Kathleen Allman’s authority over her share of the estate, something she disputes.
Under the current court order, De Bode remains in the CEO seat handling day-to-day operations, but he’s barred from making major company decisions until the ownership fight is resolved — a restriction that people close to the matter say has likely stalled any real sale process regardless of who was behind the outreach.
An Ondo spokesperson pushed back hard on the sale reports, saying no one at the company sought buyers or entered sale talks, and calling the claims false. Allman’s estate declined to comment.
Founded in 2021 by former Goldman Sachs staffers, Ondo runs tokenized U.S. Treasury and stock products with more than $3.8 billion currently held across them.
