Citadel Unwound 80% of $4 Billion Risk From AI Portfolio After 100-Plus Trades

Q: Which specific AI stocks did Citadel secretly hold onto after dumping 80% of Leopold Aschenbrenner's liquidated $4 billion portfolio?

There is no verified public disclosure of which specific AI stocks Citadel kept after shedding more than 80% of the risk. Ken Griffin’s letter said only that Citadel had “unwound more than 80% of the aggregate risk” of the portfolio through more than 100 block trades worth over $4 billion. That describes risk reduction, not the names that remained. Neither the letter nor the reporting identifies the residual positions. What is publicly known is the mix of stocks that had been in Leopold Aschenbrenner’s Situational Awareness book before the forced sale. Reports and filings tied the fund to AI and semiconductor names including SK hynix, CoreWeave, Sandisk, Bloom Energy, Micron, Nebius, Broadcom and Intel, along with shorts against software companies such as Adobe. Reuters and CNBC also cited hard-hit holdings such as SK hynix and CoreWeave, while other reports mentioned SanDisk, Micron and Nebius. But no credible source in the material provided shows which of those Citadel “secretly held onto.” The remaining 20% of risk could have reflected partial positions, hedges, derivatives, or illiquid exposures rather than a simple basket of named stocks. Without a regulatory filing, client letter naming positions, or on-record reporting, any claim about the exact AI stocks Citadel retained would be speculation.

3 articles · Updated · CNBC · Aug 21

More than 80% of the aggregate risk in the Situational Awareness portfolio Citadel bought has already been unwound, Ken Griffin told clients, after the firm executed over 100 block trades covering more than $4 billion of market value.
July 29 talks led to the transfer after Situational Awareness, run by Leopold Aschenbrenner, was forced to sell its public stock positions amid steep AI-trade losses, margin calls and compulsory sales.
Sandisk and Bloom Energy had fallen more than 50%, while software shorts such as Adobe rebounded, leaving the fund losing money on both sides of the book.
Citadel said its flagship Wellington fund gained 5.94% in July—its best monthly performance since 2022—as the AI trade later rebounded and the forced sale came to mark the sell-off's bottom.