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Jensen Huang’s future rests in the balance as Nvidia board reportedly meet
Nvidia’s board is meeting to decide whether to oust CEO Jensen Huang, a source familiar with the matter told the Reuters news agency, as the world’s dominant supplier of AI processors grapples with reports of two extramarital affairs involving its longtime leader.
The reports mark a sharp escalation in a controversy that began with revelations about Huang’s relationship with Alice Huang, a woman US intelligence has said was involved in facilitating shipments of Nvidia chips to Chinese firms.
In a memo to employees on Sunday, Huang acknowledged being unfaithful to his wife and took “full responsibility,” but gave no details about the relationship.
Huang, 63, has no obvious successor and owns about 3.6% of Nvidia’s stock. He also has dozens of direct reports, underscoring the tight control he maintains over the company.
The company’s shares slid about 8% in after-hours trading after the Wall Street Journal first reported that Nvidia was preparing to oust Huang. Including Wednesday’s after-hours selloff, Nvidia has lost about $600bn in stock market value this week since the board announced its investigation into his relationship with a Chinese businesswoman.
Earlier in the day, the New York Times reported that Huang had also had an extramarital affair with a company executive who reported to him.
Key events
How did we get here?
Reports that Nvidia’s board is weighing Jensen Huang’s future at the company mark a dramatic escalation in events that began last week, when it was revealed that the CEO had been engaged in an affair with an alleged Chinese spy who was involved in facilitating shipments of Nvidia chips to Chinese firms.
The chip mogul is alleged to have had a relationship with Alice Huang, a businesswoman that US intelligence services suspect of spying for the Chinese government.
US intelligence agencies believe Alice Huang, acting on behalf of Beijing, pushed Jensen Huang to lobby Trump for relaxed export controls on Nvidia’s sales in China, which he has done multiple times publicly. Nvidia said in a statement that neither trade secrets nor US national security had been compromised.
The affair and alleged intelligence operation involving Huang could have far reaching implications for Nvidia and the tech industry, which are already enduring a period of high market volatility. Huang’s leadership of Nvidia, which is deeply financially intertwined with other leading tech companies like OpenAI, has long been viewed as crucial to the company’s success and stability.
Huang’s defenders framed his affair as a personal lapse in judgment rather than evidence of treachery against the US, which has imposed strict limits on what chips Nvidia can sell to China.
Huang, who has been married to his wife, Lori, since 1985, admitted in an email to employees on Sunday that he had an affair and that he would cooperate with an internal investigation. Nvidia’s board of directors put out a statement the same day that the company was launching a probe regarding reports that Huang was the target of a foreign intelligence effort.
The probe is being overseen by independent directors with outside legal counsel. At the time it was announced, the board expressed confidence in Huang.
Donald Trump has said he had not discussed the allegations with Huang but voiced support for the Nvidia chief, calling him “an honourable guy” who had “done an amazing job for our country.”
Nvidia share price plunges 8% in after-hours trade
Nvidia’s shares plunged in after-hours trading on news that its board may oust longtime CEO Jensen Huang, with the chipmaker losing about $600bn in stock market value this week since the board announced its investigation into his relationship with a Chinese businesswoman.
Shares in Nvidia slid more than 8% after close of trade.
Strategists said investors were still digesting the implications of the midterm elections, which resulted in Democrats taking control of Congress, but also now, the news surrounding Nvidia.
Jensen Huang “was the one who led the marvelous rise of Nvidia,” said Bruce Zaro, managing director at Granite Wealth Management in Plymouth, Massachusetts. “I guess the question would be, can someone step up if Jensen has to resign or is forced out?“
“It looks bad from every single angle,” said Jake Dollarhide, chief executive officer at Longbow Asset Management in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
“I believe the board won’t oust him until they have an all-star, a known entity in the tech sector, to replace him,” said Jake Dollarhide, chief executive officer at Longbow Asset Management in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
At the end of the day, let’s not forget that the Nvidia chip is the centrepiece of the AI story.“
Analysts have suggested that with no obvious successor, the Nvidia board has a difficult decision to make on whether to remove Jensen Huang as CEO.
“Huang being removed immediately could be challenging for Nvidia since it does not have a succession plan in place,” Gil Luria, head of technology research at DA Davidson, said.
Huang’s potential departure would leave a leadership vacuum at the roughly $4tn chipmaker he co-founded and built over more than three decades to become the top supplier of AI chips at the center of the global artificial-intelligence boom and US-China technology rivalry.
Investors and analysts said while demand for Nvidia’s chips would be unlikely to drop in the near term, the broader universe of companies backed by the company might suffer.
“Nvidia is also at the centre of the circular financing which is providing capital to the investment boom,” said Nick Ferres, chief investment officer at Vantage Point Asset Management in Singapore.
They are financing their customers. In these types of booms or bubbles, sometimes all it takes is a slowdown to shift it into the bust phase.”
Jensen Huang’s future rests in the balance as Nvidia board reportedly meet
Nvidia’s board is meeting to decide whether to oust CEO Jensen Huang, a source familiar with the matter told the Reuters news agency, as the world’s dominant supplier of AI processors grapples with reports of two extramarital affairs involving its longtime leader.
The reports mark a sharp escalation in a controversy that began with revelations about Huang’s relationship with Alice Huang, a woman US intelligence has said was involved in facilitating shipments of Nvidia chips to Chinese firms.
In a memo to employees on Sunday, Huang acknowledged being unfaithful to his wife and took “full responsibility,” but gave no details about the relationship.
Huang, 63, has no obvious successor and owns about 3.6% of Nvidia’s stock. He also has dozens of direct reports, underscoring the tight control he maintains over the company.
The company’s shares slid about 8% in after-hours trading after the Wall Street Journal first reported that Nvidia was preparing to oust Huang. Including Wednesday’s after-hours selloff, Nvidia has lost about $600bn in stock market value this week since the board announced its investigation into his relationship with a Chinese businesswoman.
Earlier in the day, the New York Times reported that Huang had also had an extramarital affair with a company executive who reported to him.
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