「AI Stock God」 Fund's Margin Call Saga: All-Night Negotiations During Wedding to Sell Anthropic Equity for Funding, Ultimately Opting to Liquidate Public Stock

BlockBeats News, August 1st - Well-known financial media Wall St Engine revealed the behind-the-scenes details of the "AI Stock God" Leopold Aschenbrenner's liquidation:

After the market cooled rapidly in mid-July, Situational Awareness's holding stock prices dropped, triggering daily monitoring by banks such as Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, leading to margin calls. It is reported that during this period, other hedge funds, upon learning of this, shorted its positions, creating a feedback loop of "price drop → margin call → forced liquidation → further price suppression." Leopold Aschenbrenner later likened this to a bank run.

By the end of July, while Leopold Aschenbrenner was hosting a multi-day wedding in Carmel, he and his team continued to negotiate throughout the night to maintain the fund's operations. On the evening of July 29th, Leopold reached a preliminary agreement with investors to sell about $3.5 billion worth of Anthropic equity to a consortium led by Greenoaks and Sequoia (Redwood).

However, from the early morning of July 30th to before the opening, Leopold Aschenbrenner changed his decision, retaining the private portfolio and opting to sell public stocks. Citadel and Millennium then negotiated with the fund team until midnight. Citadel ultimately reached an agreement before Thursday's opening, purchasing a significant portion of the fund's public stock portfolio at a more than 10% discount to the market value at that time. This transaction allowed the Situational Awareness Fund to meet margin requirements without formal defaulting. Following the completion of the transaction, related AI and semiconductor stocks rebounded on Thursday, benefiting Citadel.

Around July 31, 2026: Situational Awareness Fund sent a letter to investors, confirming a net loss of around 67% in July but still a net gain of about 80% for the year. Leopold Aschenbrenner stated that he "takes full responsibility for this event," the fund has completely eliminated bank leverage, plans to continue operating and investing in the public markets, while adjusting portfolio management and risk teams.