AI hedge fund founder Leopold Aschenbrenner navigates near-collapse before wedding

Leopold Aschenbrenner, the founder of the hedge fund Situational Awareness, finalized his wedding this week after a turbulent period in which his fund faced severe liquidity pressure. The fund, which had grown to $45 billion by betting heavily on memory-chip and data-center companies such as CoreWeave and SK Hynix, was leveraged three to four times.

In early June, a sharp drop of about 30% in several AI-related semiconductor stocks triggered margin calls and forced Aschenbrenner to sell holdings to meet collateral demands. He sought private investments, including a proposed $3.5 billion sale of his Anthropic stake, but the deal did not close. Ultimately, Citadel’s Ken Griffin purchased the majority of the public portfolio at a price roughly 10% below market value, providing cash that allowed Aschenbrenner to repay lenders.

Following the transaction, the fund’s assets were reduced to roughly $10 billion, preserving its Anthropic position. In a letter to investors, Aschenbrenner noted that the fund’s short positions and leverage had been eliminated, and despite a 67% monthly decline, it remained up 80% for the year. He offered one-on-one phone calls with investors in the coming week, acknowledging responsibility for the recent volatility.

The wedding, held in Carmel, was attended by many of Aschenbrenner’s investors and colleagues, including the Collison brothers of Stripe, who initially seeded the fund. The event was described on social media as a “European Garden” theme, reflecting the close-knit nature of the AI and venture-capital community.

"I take full responsibility for these events," Aschenbrenner wrote in his investor communication.

Neither Situational Awareness nor Anthropic provided comments to the press.