Key Takeaways
- • Mancala Capital Partners, a New York long/short equity manager led by Amir Zabeti, told investors in a November 9 email that its short positions tied to the AI-infrastructure trade returned 148.66% after fees in a single day, according to Opalesque.
- • The letter attributes the gains to shorts in Nvidia and CoreWeave, and says a Walmart 'defensive consumer position' returned 141.54% in the same period. It does not disclose instruments, sleeve size, or portfolio-level impact.
- • Per Preqin, Mancala was established in 2024 and runs a single long/short equity fund. The firm ties the trade to its private credit short thesis, which argues Nvidia is the most overvalued and most systemically important point of failure in the AI financing chain.
- • The letter highlights a roughly USD500m portfolio of data center loans put up for auction, which subsequent Bloomberg-cited reports attribute to ING. Bids are due November 19.
- • The return figures are unverified by the source. A straight stock short cannot gain more than 100%, and the email's disclaimer states data is as of April 2026.
Summary
Mancala Capital Partners, the New York-based long/short equity manager led by Amir Zabeti, has told investors that its short positions tied to the AI-infrastructure trade returned 148.66% after fees in a single day, according to a November 9 email obtained by Opalesque. The letter, sent under the subject line 'Our NVDA short update,' says the firm acted on its view through a 'concentrated sleeve' that included shorts in CoreWeave and Nvidia. A 'defensive consumer position' in Walmart, which Zabeti said he discussed on Hedge Fund Alpha, returned 141.54%, which the letter describes as 'a win on both sides.'
The letter does not state which instruments were used, how large the sleeve is relative to the fund, or what the move meant for overall portfolio performance. The source notes that a straight short in a stock cannot gain more than 100%, and that a long gain above 140% in one day would be unusual, suggesting the figures may reflect options or leveraged exposure measured against a small capital base. The email's disclaimer also states that all data is as of April 2026, while the body refers to the firm's short positions in the present tense.
Zabeti links the trade to Mancala's private credit short thesis, first published in April and updated in July as version 2.0. Excerpts reproduced in the letter argue that customer concentration and circular funding, in which Nvidia-backed startups recycle capital back into its chips, mean the same dollar can appear as an Nvidia investment, sale and customer. The report contrasts chips with a two-to-six-year useful life against data center leases of 15 to 19 years and the 30-year liabilities of insurers and pension funds financing them. The letter also references a roughly USD500m portfolio of data center loans put up for auction, which it calls 'this SoftBank dump.' Subsequent reports citing Bloomberg identified the seller as Dutch bank ING. The loans include debt tied to Vantage Data Centers and CyrusOne, as well as a USD25m slice financing the Stargate campus in New Mexico, a venture in which SoftBank is a partner. Bids are due November 19.
The letter also comments on reports involving Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang and Alice Huang, no relation, an executive at Singapore-based Megaspeed, a large Nvidia customer in Southeast Asia. U.S. intelligence officials have reportedly believed her to be an asset of China's Ministry of State Security, and Commerce Department officials have been investigating whether Megaspeed helped Chinese firms circumvent U.S. export restrictions. Nvidia has said Alice Huang's interactions with the company were ordinary customer contacts and that no trade secrets or national security information were shared. Nvidia's board has said it is opening an independent investigation, which Jensen Huang has said he supports. Beijing has dismissed the espionage allegations as smears. Zabeti's letter adds its own commentary and contrasts Mancala's long/short structure with long-only funds that he says ran leveraged books with little risk control.
The letter does not state which instruments were used, how large the sleeve is relative to the fund, or what the move meant for overall portfolio performance. The source notes that a straight short in a stock cannot gain more than 100%, and that a long gain above 140% in one day would be unusual, suggesting the figures may reflect options or leveraged exposure measured against a small capital base. The email's disclaimer also states that all data is as of April 2026, while the body refers to the firm's short positions in the present tense.
Zabeti links the trade to Mancala's private credit short thesis, first published in April and updated in July as version 2.0. Excerpts reproduced in the letter argue that customer concentration and circular funding, in which Nvidia-backed startups recycle capital back into its chips, mean the same dollar can appear as an Nvidia investment, sale and customer. The report contrasts chips with a two-to-six-year useful life against data center leases of 15 to 19 years and the 30-year liabilities of insurers and pension funds financing them. The letter also references a roughly USD500m portfolio of data center loans put up for auction, which it calls 'this SoftBank dump.' Subsequent reports citing Bloomberg identified the seller as Dutch bank ING. The loans include debt tied to Vantage Data Centers and CyrusOne, as well as a USD25m slice financing the Stargate campus in New Mexico, a venture in which SoftBank is a partner. Bids are due November 19.
The letter also comments on reports involving Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang and Alice Huang, no relation, an executive at Singapore-based Megaspeed, a large Nvidia customer in Southeast Asia. U.S. intelligence officials have reportedly believed her to be an asset of China's Ministry of State Security, and Commerce Department officials have been investigating whether Megaspeed helped Chinese firms circumvent U.S. export restrictions. Nvidia has said Alice Huang's interactions with the company were ordinary customer contacts and that no trade secrets or national security information were shared. Nvidia's board has said it is opening an independent investigation, which Jensen Huang has said he supports. Beijing has dismissed the espionage allegations as smears. Zabeti's letter adds its own commentary and contrasts Mancala's long/short structure with long-only funds that he says ran leveraged books with little risk control.
Go deeper than the headline
Research every firm in this story, track the ones that matter and get the daily briefing — free for 7 days.