Overview
- In late July Citadel purchased roughly $16 billion of Situational Awareness’s public equities in under 24 hours at an estimated discount of about 10%, which let the fund pay margin calls and stop forced liquidations.
- The fund had used very high leverage, reported as much as 400%, and a monthlong selloff in AI‑infrastructure stocks triggered cascading margin demands that forced the emergency sale.
- After the transaction Situational Awareness’s assets fell from a reported peak near $45 billion to about $10 billion but the firm removed its leverage and remained operating.
- Founder Leopold Aschenbrenner kept large private positions, including a multibillion stake in Anthropic, and quickly deployed $400 million more into a Sequoia‑backed private company reported to be Source Foundry.
- Citadel’s funds posted strong July gains following the purchase and markets saw a relief rally, while retail investors who mirror Aschenbrenner’s disclosed public holdings continue to hold meaningful exposure and watch for private exits or governance changes.