AI Stock Guru Leopold Aschenbrenner's Fund Collapses, Sells Anthropic Stake to Raise Capital

On August 1, renowned financial media Wall St Engine reported details of the fund collapse of "AI stock guru" Leopold Aschenbrenner. In mid-July, the market rapidly cooled, causing the stock prices of Situational Awareness's holdings to drop, triggering margin calls from banks like Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley. Other hedge funds, upon learning of this, shorted his positions, creating a feedback loop of falling prices, margin calls, forced selling, and further price suppression. Aschenbrenner likened this to a bank run. By late July, during his wedding in Carmel, Aschenbrenner was still negotiating overnight with his team to keep the fund operational. On the evening of July 29, Aschenbrenner reached a preliminary agreement with investors to sell approximately $3.5 billion worth of Anthropic shares to a consortium led by Greenoaks and Sequoia. In the early hours of July 30, Aschenbrenner changed his decision, opting to retain the private equity portfolio and instead sell publicly traded stocks. Citadel and Millennium subsequently negotiated with the fund team, with Citadel ultimately purchasing most of the fund's publicly traded equity investments at a discount of over 10% below market value before the Thursday market opened, satisfying the margin call requirements and avoiding a formal default. After the transaction, related AI and semiconductor stocks rebounded, benefiting Citadel. Around July 31, 2026, the Situational Awareness fund sent a letter to investors confirming a net loss of approximately 67% for July, but still a net increase of about 80% for the year. Aschenbrenner stated he takes full responsibility for the incident, the fund has completely removed bank leverage, and plans to continue operations and invest in the public market while adjusting the management of the investment portfolio and risk team.

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