Jensen Huang Resigns: Nvidia Falls 5%, QQQ Holders Lose Just $38

Nvidia shares fell 5.01% to $165.03 by 10:29 AM ET on Thursday after Jensen Huang resigned as chief executive, yet a $10,000 position in the Invesco QQQ Trust (NASDAQ:QQQ) lost only about $38 of that damage. The stock had dropped as much as 13% immediately after the news before recovering part of the loss, Axios reported. The gap between those two numbers is the story: index construction, not sentiment, decided how much the leadership crisis cost each type of investor.

What happened at Nvidia?

Nvidia's board named longtime CFO Colette Kress interim CEO and began a search for a permanent replacement, according to Axios. The company did not give a reason for the resignation.

The departure follows a series of press reports. The New York Times reported Wednesday that Huang had a relationship with a senior Nvidia executive who reports to him. On Nov. 8, the board announced an independent investigation after reports that Huang may have been targeted by a foreign intelligence effort; the Times reported that U.S. officials believed a businesswoman with close ties to Huang was gathering intelligence for Beijing.

In a note to staff quoted by Axios, Kress wrote: "I believe deeply in this company and in its future." The board expects operations, customer commitments and the product roadmap to continue without interruption, Axios reported. The mechanism here is simple: an interim chief with deep institutional knowledge buys time, but it does not settle who runs the dominant AI chip supplier.

How strong was the business Huang left?

The company was still growing quickly when he exited. For the fiscal second quarter, reported Aug. 26, 2026, Nvidia posted revenue of $96.22 billion, up 105.8% year over year. Non-GAAP EPS came in at $2.22, beating the $2.09 consensus. Guidance for the third quarter called for revenue of $108.0 billion, plus or minus 2%.

When Nvidia next reports, leadership questions will sit beside the data center story, as Morningstar put it. The fundamentals and the succession now travel together.

What did the selloff actually cost fund holders?

QQQ was down 0.58% as of 10:29 AM ET, roughly $58 on a $10,000 position. Over the past month, the fund dropped 8%, about $800 on the same investment.

The fund's most recent holdings filing, dated June 30, 2026, places Nvidia at about 7.6% of net assets. That means roughly $760 of a $10,000 position sat in Nvidia. Applying Thursday's decline to that weight, Nvidia accounts for about $38 of the day's loss, and about $206 of the month's. These are rough estimates, since the actual weight has shifted since June.

A direct position tells the other side. Over the same windows, $10,000 in Nvidia shares lost about $501 on the day and about $2,708 over the month, as the stock fell 27.08%. The index cushion worked exactly as designed.

Why can one stock only move a fund so far?

A holding's weight sets a hard ceiling on its influence. QQQ tracks the Nasdaq-100, a modified market capitalization-weighted index in which no single component may exceed 24%. At about 7.6%, even a 27% Nvidia decline removes only a sliver of the fund's value.

Narrower funds offer less protection. As of June 30, 2026, Nvidia made up 14.65% of the Technology Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSEARCA:XLK) and 17.55% of the VanEck Semiconductor ETF (NASDAQ:SMH). At those weights, this month's selloff cut far deeper into those funds than into QQQ.

Where does concentration risk land?

QQQ held about $490.1 billion in net assets as of June 30, including a Nvidia stake worth about $37.2 billion. Axios framed the stakes plainly: because of Nvidia's size, the move has "massive implications for every American with a retirement account."

Overlap compounds the problem. An investor holding QQQ, XLK and SMH owns Nvidia three times, and an S&P 500 index fund in the same account would likely add a fourth position. Each fund looks diversified alone; combined, the true Nvidia exposure can run well above what any single fund shows.

What comes next?

The CEO search and the next earnings report now set the agenda. According to a summary posted on X, Goldman Sachs kept a Buy rating with a $220 price target but expects a search for the "right multiple." For QQQ holders, the damage so far remains small next to what direct shareholders absorbed, and the December Nasdaq-100 rebalance will test whether that cushion holds.