Warren Buffett warns leverage can destroy investors "even when it is employed by very smart people"

A 24-year-old with no prior trading background reportedly runs a $45 billion AI-focused hedge fund backed by Stripe’s co-founders, drawing attention for his prediction that superintelligent AI will arrive before 2030. After early outsized gains, the fund stumbled in July when leveraged bets on AI-related companies soured, reportedly losing 67 percent and forcing it to sell most of its holdings to Citadel. Even so, it is said to remain up 80 percent this year. The episode is being framed around an old Warren Buffett caution: relying on borrowed money can destroy investors even when they are extraordinarily intelligent. That warning matters because it highlights how a valid long-term vision can still be wrecked by short-term market turmoil.