SINGAPORE — Singapore-based ride-hailing firm Ryde, which is listed on the New York Stock Exchange, is confronting legal trouble on two fronts: a US securities class action alleging a pump-and-dump scheme and a shareholder petition in the Cayman Islands seeking a buyout of shares or the company's winding-up.
The class action was filed on September 10 in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York. Retail investor Shari Weiss brought the claim on behalf of those who bought Ryde securities between March 6 and September 11, 2024, naming the company and its leadership, including founder and chief executive Terence Zou and then-chief financial officer Lang Chen Fei.
The suit alleges that Ryde participated in or enabled a pump-and-dump scheme, in which people posing as financial advisers on social media and online forums fuelled a buying frenzy among retail investors. Ryde's share price hit an intraday high of US$22.49 (S$28.76) on September 11, 2024, despite no fundamental changes to the company, before crashing about 75 per cent the next day to US$5.50 (S$7.03). The complaint cites Nathan Anderson, founder of the now-closed financial intelligence firm Hindenburg Research, who said the stock showed all the hallmarks of a pump-and-dump, noting it had plummeted around 80 per cent in an hour after weeks of wash trading and coordinated pumping in chat rooms.
The suit further claims Ryde failed to disclose the unusual trading activity, outsized price swings and false claims circulating in online investor groups, rendering its statements about its business, operations and prospects materially misleading. Ryde's shares have since cooled considerably, closing at US$0.68 (S$0.87) on October 1 — down from its September 2024 peak of US$20.28 (S$25.94).
Separately, on July 3, Octava Fund — a Ryde shareholder wholly owned by Octava Offshore Holdings and managed by Singapore-based Octava Management — petitioned the Grand Court of the Cayman Islands, where both it and Ryde Group are incorporated. The petition seeks either a buyout of Ryde's 6.9 million shares or the company's winding-up, on grounds of improper governance and breach of duty. Octava says it has justifiably lost all trust and confidence that the company's assets and affairs are being properly managed.
Ryde was founded in 2014 by Singaporean Terence Zou as Ryde Technologies, starting as a carpooling app before expanding into ride-hailing and delivery. It is one of seven full ride-hail operators in Singapore alongside Grab and CDG Zig, and made its Nasdaq debut on March 4, 2024, listing three million Class A shares at US$4 each.
In its petition, Octava alleges it became Ryde's majority shareholder in January 2020 after buying out then-principal investor Nomad X, but was gradually excluded from management decisions as its voting power eroded. It points to a February 2025 memo in which Ryde issued three million Class B shares — carrying 10 times the voting rights of Class A shares — to Zou without Octava's approval, lifting his control to 58.7 per cent from 42.7 per cent while diluting Octava to 23 per cent from 39.8 per cent. Octava also alleges a US$10 million (S$12.8 million) private placement completed on October 7, 2025 was not notified to the NYSE before trading began, drawing a warning from the exchange, and flags a proposal to award Zou up to 32 million Class B shares tied to revenue and fundraising targets — under which he received two million Class B shares worth roughly US$1 million for lifting first-half 2025 revenue by US$1.1 million. In effect, more than US$0.94 of every additional dollar earned was recorded as share-based compensation expense, while the bottom line improved by just six cents on the dollar.
Ryde responded on September 18, saying the Cayman proceedings remain at an early stage with no findings made, no liquidator appointed and the directors still in control, and that it does not presently believe the proceedings are material. On the class action, it said it intends to engage litigation counsel and actively defend the action, declining further comment beyond saying disclosures will follow applicable requirements.
Operationally, the company reported its first-quarter 2026 adjusted EBITDA deficit narrowing to S$1 million from S$1.8 million a year earlier, as revenue rose 38 per cent to S$3.8 million.