Leopold Sold, Ferrari Undefeated, Martin Shkreli Joins | Guillaume Verdon, Lulu Meservey, Michael Kim, Joon Sung Park, Karan Kunjur, Vlad Tenev

July 30, 2026

AI Summary

5 min read

Leopold Sold, Ferrari Undefeated, Martin Shkreli Joins

The dominant story of this episode is the rapid collapse and forced unwinding of Leopold Aschenbrenner's hedge fund, Situational Awareness — an event that unfolded in roughly 24 hours and brought the full machinery of Wall Street's shadow banking system into view. But the episode also covers Ferrari's controversial EV hitting its sales target, a $200 million raise for Simile, a $500 million round for K2 Space, strong Robinhood earnings, and a government-backed chip deal for Extropic.

Situational Awareness Blows Up

Leopold Aschenbrenner's fund, built on the thesis that AI progress would require a massive build-out of chips, memory, power, and compute infrastructure, had grown to an estimated $45 billion in net asset value. It held concentrated positions in companies like Nebius, Sandisk, Micron, and CoreWeave, while betting against software names such as Adobe. The fund also held a significant private stake in Anthropic.

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What you'll learn

1 (00:00) **Show Open & Leopold Situational Awareness Collapse Begins** - Hosts introduce the day's dominant story: Leopold Aschenbrenner's hedge fund, Situational Awareness, is being forced to unwind its public stock portfolio after steep losses on AI infrastructure bets.
2 (03:57) **Timeline of the Collapse & Initial Reactions** - The hosts walk through the rapid sequence of events from Bloomberg's initial report to the Wall Street Journal confirming Citadel's purchase of the portfolio.
3 (11:43) **Martin Shkreli Joins to Break Down the Mechanics** - Martin Shkreli provides his analysis of the collapse, calling it one of the craziest months on Wall Street and comparing it to Long-Term Capital Management and Amaranth.
4 (18:52) **The Anthropic Stake & The Mechanics of Unwinding** - Shkreli discusses the sale of Situational Awareness's private stake in Anthropic and explains the complex process of unwinding large public positions.
5 (26:19) **What's Next for the Market & Leopold's Career** - The conversation shifts to broader market implications and the future for Leopold Aschenbrenner.
6 (33:58) **Shkreli on the Role of Ken Griffin & Citadel** - Shkreli analyzes Ken Griffin's strategy of positioning Citadel as the lender of last resort for distressed funds.
7 (45:22) **Shkreli on the Changing of the Guard in Financial News** - The hosts highlight that Shkreli's post about the situation broke the news before mainstream media, signaling a shift in the information landscape.

+ Full timestamped outline available in the app

Guests on this episode

Michael Kim Vlad Tenev Martin Shkreli

Show Notes

(00:17) - Leopold Sold
(12:14) - Martin Shkreli discusses the leveraged collapse of a major AI-focused hedge fund, explaining how forced liquidation, predatory short-selling, and excessive position sizing can rapidly destroy a portfolio. The former hedge fund manager and pharmaceutical executive also examines Citadel’s reported acquisition of the fund’s assets, the broader correction in AI stocks, and Wall Street’s recurring failure to heed the risks of leverage.
(56:19) - Ferrari Undefeated
(01:06:24) - Guillaume Verdon, founder of Extropic, discusses the company’s thermodynamic computing technology, which uses probabilistic electronics to run generative AI workloads with far greater energy efficiency. He also covers potential applications, government support for domestic chip manufacturing, AI safety and accelerationism, and the challenges of building a deep-tech company while maintaining a prominent public voice.
(01:19:16) - 𝕏 Timeline Reactions
(01:20:36) - Lulu Meservey discusses how founders and CEOs can build lasting relevance through consistent, authentic, and strategically focused communication rather than rage bait, viral stunts, or excessive media appearances. Drawing on her communications expertise at Rostra, she argues that leaders should prioritize trust, audience fit, principled messaging, and approaches that suit their individual personalities.
(01:47:35) - Michael Kim is the founder of Cendana Capital, an institutional investor focused on pre-seed and seed-stage venture funds. Michael discusses Cendana’s growth, its approach to identifying promising fund managers, the importance of founder access and investment judgment, and lessons from both missed opportunities and exceptionally successful investments.
(02:06:39) - Joon Sung discusses Simile’s $200 million fundraise and rapid growth as an applied AI lab building models that predict human behavior. He explains how its simulations help companies test products and understand customer preferences at scale while democratizing access to market insights.
(02:17:35) - Karan Kunjur, co-founder and CEO of K2 Space, discusses the company’s $500 million funding round, successful first satellite mission, and more than $1 billion in signed contracts. He explains K2’s vision of building large, high-power satellites for commercial and national-security uses, including communications, orbital computing, and advanced space infrastructure.
(02:28:35) - Vlad Tenev, co-founder and CEO of Robinhood, discusses the company’s record growth, expanding suite of financial products, and mission to broaden individual asset ownership. He also covers global markets, Robinhood Social, product design, and using mathematical superintelligence to verify software and improve cybersecurity.

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