Citadel's Flagship Fund Gains 5.9% in July, Snaps Up Discounted Situational Awareness AI Stocks
Taylor Wilson
Ken Griffin's Citadel Wellington fund rose 5.9% in July, powered by a late-month move to buy part of Situational Awareness's AI-heavy portfolio at a 10% discount — a single trade that steadied a rattled market and supercharged the fund's own returns.
What did the month-end deal actually involve?
Citadel bought a portion of Situational Awareness's public-equity portfolio last week at a 10% discount.
Situational Awareness, founded by former OpenAI researcher Leopold Aschenbrenner, was hit with a margin call — a broker demand for more collateral, with forced selling if you can't pay — on its AI-heavy positions and had to liquidate urgently.
The fund's assets plunged from $45 billion in early July to roughly $10 billion. This means → more than three-quarters of its capital evaporated or was forced out in under a month.
Why did Citadel step in at that moment?
Markets were already shaking on fears that Situational Awareness might dump positions in a disorderly fire sale. In plain terms = traders worried a leveraged fund's panic selling would drag down the entire AI sector.
Griffin's entry helped trigger a market rebound, calming sentiment while locking in cheap inventory for Citadel.
This reflects a classic hedge-fund playbook: when someone else is forced to sell, the player with cash and nerve picks up bargains.
How did this reshape Wellington's performance?
Through July 24, Wellington was up just 0.45% for the month and 5.7% year-to-date — trailing rivals Millennium Management and D.E. Shaw.
After the discounted purchase closed, the fund's July return jumped to 5.9% and its YTD gain reached 12%. This means → roughly one week's trade accounted for nearly all of the month's gain.
Citadel's other funds ran even hotter: Tactical Trading gained 11.1% in July with a 27% YTD return; Citadel Equities rose 14.2% in July, also up 27% for the year.
Content is for reference only, not financial advice.