Situational Awareness Loses $30 Billion, Scraps Anthropic Sale for Citadel Rescue
Updated
Updated · New York Magazine · Aug 19
Situational Awareness Loses $30 Billion, Scraps Anthropic Sale for Citadel Rescue
3 articles · Updated · New York Magazine · Aug 19
Summary
$30 billion vanished at Leopold Aschenbrenner’s Situational Awareness in July, and the fund abandoned a near-complete Anthropic stake sale after securing a better last-minute deal with Citadel.
A 3-to-4-times leveraged AI strategy unraveled when core holdings fell and short bets rose, triggering margin calls that forced stock sales, emergency fundraising and a scramble for liquidity.
The Citadel transaction closed on July 30 at a 10% discount on the fund’s leveraged liquid positions, replacing an Anthropic deal that had been approved and was set to close hours later.
Jane Street Capital alone lost about $15 billion on its investment, while Aschenbrenner told clients the fund had let them down and is now reviewing how much risk it should take.
The collapse caps a meteoric rise for the 24-year-old manager, whose AI-themed fund grew from $100 million to roughly $100 billion before concentrated bets and heavy borrowing reversed.