Citadel’s flagship Wellington fund gained 5.9% in July, with its purchase of discounted assets from Leopold Aschenbrenner’s AI-focused hedge fund Situational Awareness becoming one of the main contributors to the strong monthly result.
The performance lifted Wellington’s return for the first seven months of 2026 to approximately 12%. Citadel’s other strategies posted even larger gains: its equities-focused fund returned 14.2% in July, its best month on record, while the Tactical Trading fund advanced about 11.1%. Both funds were up roughly 27% year-to-date.
Citadel acquired a large portion of Situational Awareness’s publicly traded stock portfolio after a sharp selloff in AI and semiconductor shares triggered margin calls at Aschenbrenner’s fund. The transaction was reportedly assembled within approximately 24 hours, with Citadel purchasing the assets at a discount of more than 10% to their prevailing market value.
The portfolio included positions in AI-related companies such as CoreWeave, SK Hynix, and Bloom Energy. Several of the acquired stocks subsequently rebounded, allowing Citadel to benefit both from the discounted purchase price and the market recovery that followed. Wellington had reportedly gained only about 0.45% through July 24, before the transaction sharply improved its monthly performance.
Situational Awareness had previously generated exceptional returns through highly concentrated and leveraged investments in AI infrastructure and semiconductor companies. However, the same strategy amplified its losses when technology stocks reversed sharply. The fund fell approximately 67% in July, although it remained up about 80% for the year after its earlier gains.
Citadel did not acquire Situational Awareness itself. Instead, it purchased most of the fund’s liquid public-equity portfolio, while Situational Awareness retained private investments and other assets, including its reported stake in Anthropic.
The deal illustrates Citadel’s ability to deploy capital during periods of market stress, acquiring assets from leveraged investors forced to sell quickly and at significant discounts.
