Market Maker · 2026-08-06 · 47 min
A 22-year-old former OpenAI researcher built one of the hottest AI-focused hedge funds on Wall Street, generated extraordinary returns, then watched it unravel in spectacular fashion after a leveraged bet went wrong. Citadel stepped in to buy the portfolio, markets rebounded, and the episode raised important questions about AI investing, risk management and whether today's market is repeating the mistakes of the past. In this episode of Market Maker, Anthony Cheung and Piers Curran explain what really happened to Leopold Aschenbrenner's fund, why leverage can turn winning trades into disasters, how margin calls work, and why Ken Griffin and Citadel emerged as the biggest winners. They compare the story with the collapse of Long-Term Capital Management in 1998, showing why human psychology often matters more than intelligence in financial markets. They also break down why the S&P 500 has returned to record highs, what blockbuster earnings are telling us about the AI trade, whether semiconductor stocks have found a bottom, what falling oil prices mean for interest rates, and whether today's rally is built on solid foundations or growing optimism.
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