Nvidia’s board met late on Wednesday to decide the future of chief executive Jensen Huang, Reuters reported, hours after The Wall Street Journal said directors were preparing to remove the co-founder who has led the chipmaker since 1993. Shares fell about 8.6 percent in after-hours trading, and no decision had been announced by Thursday morning.
The Journal reported that the board was preparing to oust Huang, 63, after reports of two extramarital affairs. The New York Times reported that one involved Kimberly Powell, 48, Nvidia’s vice president of healthcare, who reports directly to him. The other involved Alice Huang, a businesswoman whom US officials suspect of links to Chinese intelligence. China has denied the accusations, and Alice Huang has not publicly responded to them.
Huang acknowledged on Sunday, 8 November, in a letter to staff, that he had been unfaithful to his wife and apologised. “Leading NVIDIA is the privilege of my life. My responsibility is to serve you and be worthy of your trust. I have fallen short of that responsibility,” he wrote, adding that he took full responsibility and would cooperate with the investigation. A company spokesman, John Rizzo, said Huang was committed to continuing to lead Nvidia as chief executive without interruption.
A brutal week for Nvidia shares
Investors moved fast on the reports. Nvidia closed Wednesday at $173.73, up 2.9 percent on the day, then dropped to about $159 in after-hours trading. The stock was down about 7 percent again in premarket trading on Thursday, and it has now fallen 29 percent from its high in early October.
| When | Nvidia shares |
|---|---|
| Wednesday close | $173.73, up 2.9% |
| Wednesday after hours | About $159, down 8.6% |
| Thursday premarket | Down about 7% |
| Since early-October high | Down 29% |
| Market value at risk | About $591 billion since the 8 November admission, at premarket levels |
The slide spilled across the chip sector and into Asian markets on Thursday, while S&P 500 futures slipped about 0.5 percent. Not every chip stock fell: AMD rose about 4 percent after hours and Broadcom gained about 2.8 percent, while Intel slipped 2.7 percent. Baird downgraded Nvidia to neutral and cut its price target by 60 percent, to $200. Dan Ives of Yorkville Ives put Nvidia at $300 a share with Huang in charge and $225 without him, and traders on prediction markets were pricing roughly a three-in-four chance that Huang leaves by the end of the year.
Four days from board probe to possible ouster
The crisis has moved with remarkable speed. The board opened an independent investigation on Sunday, the same day Huang sent his letter to staff, after reports that he had been the target of a foreign intelligence effort. The Nvidia investigation opened just days after the first reports surfaced, and the directors said at the time that they had no reason to believe national security or Nvidia secrets had been compromised.
| Date | Development |
|---|---|
| Sunday, 8 November | Board opens independent investigation; Huang admits infidelity in a letter to staff |
| Monday, 9 November | Chairmen of three House committees write to Huang raising national-security concerns |
| Tuesday, 10 November | Independent directors hire former acting US attorney Joon H. Kim and Wachtell Lipton to run the inquiry |
| Wednesday, 11 November | Times reports the Powell affair; Journal reports board preparing to oust Huang; Reuters reports directors met late Wednesday |
| Thursday, 12 November | No decision announced; shares fall again in premarket trading |
Huang has also been called to testify before Congress, where lawmakers want to know what he knew about efforts to acquire Nvidia chips for China in potential violation of US export restrictions. The turmoil lands in a week when the wider AI sector has been under pressure, even as Anthropic’s blockbuster IPO valued the Claude maker at up to $1.4 trillion.
A company built around one man
Part of the market’s alarm is that Nvidia has never had another chief executive. Huang co-founded the company in 1993 and remains its largest individual shareholder, with about 3.6 percent of the stock. He runs the company with a flat structure and roughly 60 direct reports, and he has said openly that he does not believe in succession planning.
Nvidia’s latest proxy statement warns that the company is “highly dependent on the services of our longstanding executive team” and that a failure to ensure succession planning could hinder its strategy and execution. Bloomberg reported that the board has been working with an outside firm to identify possible replacements and is considering an interim chief executive if Huang is removed. Jay Goldberg, a senior analyst at Seaport Research Partners, told Al Jazeera that replacing Huang “will be very painful organisationally.”
What happens next for Jensen Huang and Nvidia
Three dates now matter. The first is the board’s decision, which could come at any time after Wednesday night’s meeting. The second is the outcome of the independent investigation, which is examining whether Huang was targeted in a foreign intelligence operation. The third is Tuesday, 17 November, when Nvidia reports quarterly results after the market close, according to Nvidia’s investor relations page.
Until the board speaks, Huang remains president and chief executive on the public record. No new filing has appeared with the Securities and Exchange Commission, and Nvidia’s newsroom has issued no fresh statement. For the world’s most valuable chipmaker, the question investors are asking is no longer whether Huang stays or goes, but how much of Nvidia’s value leaves with him.
Frequently asked questions
Has Jensen Huang been fired from Nvidia?
No. As of Thursday morning, no decision had been announced, and Huang remains chief executive. The Wall Street Journal reported that the board was preparing to remove him, and Reuters reported that directors met late on Wednesday to decide his future.
Why is Nvidia’s board considering removing Jensen Huang?
Reports of two extramarital affairs: one with Kimberly Powell, a Nvidia vice president who reports to him, and one with Alice Huang, a businesswoman US officials suspect of links to Chinese intelligence. Huang has admitted he was unfaithful and apologised.
How much have Nvidia shares fallen?
Shares fell about 8.6 percent in after-hours trading on Wednesday to roughly $159, and were down about 7 percent in premarket trading on Thursday. The stock is down 29 percent from its high in early October.
Who would replace Jensen Huang as Nvidia CEO?
No successor has been named. Bloomberg reported that the board is working with an outside firm to identify candidates and is considering an interim chief executive. Huang has said he does not believe in succession planning.
When does Nvidia report earnings?
Tuesday, 17 November, after the market close.
