Ken Griffin's Citadel hedge fund steps in to rescue the struggling Situational Awareness fund from AI stock losses.
Ken Griffin, the founder of Citadel, acted as a rescue buyer for the California hedge fund Situational Awareness this week. The fund, led by Leopold Aschenbrenner, suffered a 67% loss in its public equities book during July due to souring bets on artificial intelligence stocks. Citadel executives, including Pablo Salame and Gerald Beeson, conducted an all-nighter to analyze the trading book positions of Situational Awareness. Following the analysis, Citadel purchased a significant portion of the book. This move follows a long-standing playbook for Ken Griffin, who has a history of identifying market opportunities during crises. Griffin has previously rescued several high-profile funds, including Sowood Capital and Amaranth Advisors. He also participated in the rescue of Melvin Capital in 2021. Known as a prominent Republican donor, Ken Griffin has also commented on the administration's policies, specifically calling President Trump's tariffs a "huge policy mistake."