Leverage Turned A Winning Thesis Into A Stupid Bet

RIA · Aug 3, 2026

Leopold Aschenbrenner's Situational Awareness Fund turned $225 million into as much as $45 billion. Not bad for a 24-year-old with little experience. In June alone, his fund was up 439% year-to-date. Despite the rapid wild success, last Thursday the fund was forced to sell all of its public investments to satisfy margin calls. Furthermore, they are trying to sell remaining stakes in private holdings like Anthropic to raise cash. Some pundits estimate the fund fell by 90% or more as a result of excessive leverage primarily employed in the once-hot semiconductor and hardware stocks. Some of the…