Citadel Acquires Public Stock Portfolio of AI Hedge Fund Situational Awareness

Situational Awareness Citadel Leopold Aschenbrenner AI hedge fund margin call

Leopold Aschenbrenner, a former OpenAI researcher, founded the hedge fund Situational Awareness in 2024. The fund grew rapidly, posting a 439% net return through June 2026 and expanding assets under management to a peak between $20 billion and $45 billion. Leveraged at roughly four times its equity base, the fund concentrated on AI‑infrastructure stocks such as SK Hynix, SanDisk, Micron, Nebius Group and Bloom Energy, as well as several Bitcoin‑mining companies.

A sharp decline in AI‑related equities in July triggered margin calls from major prime brokers. To meet the calls, Situational Awareness sold its entire public equity portfolio – valued at roughly $16‑24 billion – to Ken Griffin’s hedge fund Citadel in a single block trade, reportedly at a discount to market prices. The sale excluded private holdings, and the fund retained a stake in the AI startup Anthropic. Following the unwind, the fund’s assets fell to about $10 billion and it began seeking fresh capital from investors and lenders. Major backers have included the Collison brothers of Stripe and the quantitative trading firm Jane Street.

Entities: Anthropic · Citadel · Financial Times · Jane Street · Ken Griffin · Leopold Aschenbrenner · Patrick Collison · Patrick and John Collison · Situational Awareness · Situational Awareness LP

Claims

What the coverage asserts, and how well corroborated each claim is across sources.

[○ 1 SOURCE] Jane Street is among the investors in Situational Awareness. (FourWeekMBA)
[● 2 SOURCES] In July 2024, a sell‑off in AI‑related stocks caused heavy losses for the fund. (Financial Times, Cointelegraph)
[● 7 SOURCES] The fund posted a 439% net return after fees through June 2026. (existing)
[● 6 SOURCES] Situational Awareness LP was founded in 2024 by former OpenAI researcher Leopold Aschenbrenner. (new)
[● 2 SOURCES] Some investors were offered the option to purchase portfolio assets directly. (Financial Times, Cointelegraph)
[● 2 SOURCES] The fund had more than $20 billion in assets under management as of June 2024. (FourWeekMBA, Cointelegraph)
[○ 1 SOURCE] The fund’s 13F filing disclosed about $13.7 billion of notional exposure, including roughly $8.5 billion of PUT options against chipmakers. (FourWeekMBA)
[● 3 SOURCES] Situational Awareness is seeking fresh capital from investors and lenders after the losses. (Financial Times, FourWeekMBA, Cointelegraph)
[● 8 SOURCES] Situational Awareness LP was founded by former OpenAI researcher Leopold Aschenbrenner.
[● 3 SOURCES] The fund sold its entire public equity portfolio, valued around $16‑24 billion, to Ken Griffin’s Citadel. (new)
[● 3 SOURCES] After the sale, Situational Awareness retained private holdings, including a stake in Anthropic, and its total assets fell to about $10 billion. (new)
[● 7 SOURCES] Citadel acquired the portfolio in a single block trade, likely at a discount to market prices. (new)