Nvidia Board Prepares to Oust Jensen Huang as Shares Fall 8%

Nvidia shares fell roughly 8% in after-hours trading on Nov. 11 after The Wall Street Journal reported that the board is preparing to remove co-founder and CEO Jensen Huang. Reuters, citing the Journal, said the board could meet as soon as Wednesday to decide his future. Reuters said it could not verify the report. Nvidia did not respond to a request for comment.

The Journal story, bylined Josh Dawsey and Robbie Whelan, cites people familiar with the matter. Its summary line says the move "follows company investigation into an affair with a Chinese woman alleged to be a spy." As relayed by Reuters, the board is preparing to remove Huang after two extramarital affairs, one with a suspected Chinese spy. Semafor reported the board could act "as soon as today."

No successor has been named in the accessible accounts of the report. The full Journal article is paywalled. Nvidia has no public succession plan. Its filings list four other executive officers alongside Huang.

What does the second relationship change?

The New York Times reported on Nov. 11 that Huang had a relationship with an Nvidia executive who reports to him. Reuters, citing the Times, identified the executive as Kimberly Powell, the company's vice president of healthcare. The Times attributed the account to five people who worked at the company.

Yahoo Finance, citing the Times, reported the two were seen being affectionate at a hotel during a company conference in March. Neither Nvidia nor Powell had commented publicly.

This allegation differs in kind from the national security claims. A relationship with a direct report is a workplace governance matter, and a board can act on it without waiting for any intelligence-related inquiry to conclude. That distinction may explain the pace of the reported board action.

How did the board get here?

On Nov. 8, Huang told employees in a message titled "A Message to Our Company" that he had been unfaithful to his wife. He wrote: "there is no excuse for what I did." He added: "I have fallen short of that responsibility. I am fully committed to NVIDIA and will work to earn back your confidence." He said the board had opened an independent investigation into the national security concerns and that he would "cooperate fully."

The security concerns center on Alice Huang, a former executive at Megaspeed. U.S. officials reportedly suspect her of working for Chinese intelligence. On Nov. 10, the independent board members retained Joon H. Kim, former acting U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and his firm Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz to conduct the investigation.

Political pressure escalated this week. Former Trump economic adviser Larry Kudlow and Sen. Kevin Cramer, a North Dakota Republican, called on Huang to step down. CNBC reported that Rep. Don Bacon, Republican of Nebraska, and Rep. Suhas Subramanyam, Democrat of Virginia, agreed. Axios reported that Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick received a classified memo warning about Huang's ties to Alice Huang. House Republicans have prepared a subpoena if Huang declines a closed-door briefing.

How did the market react?

Nvidia shares dropped about 8% in after-hours trading, according to Reuters. CNN put the decline at 8.4% as of 6 p.m. ET on Nov. 11. Semafor said the drop took the stock to a 52-week low. Reuters added that Nvidia has lost more than $300 billion in market value since news of the Alice Huang affair broke.

The selloff extends a decline that had already pushed Nvidia's valuation to a decade-plus low. Quarterly results are due next week.

What happens next?

Several questions remain open. Whether the board meets, and what it announces. Whether Nvidia or Huang responds to the Journal report. Who would lead the company on an interim basis. How the board weighs the internal relationship alongside the Wachtell investigation. Huang has been asked to brief three House committee chairs by Nov. 18.

Every claim here traces to anonymous sourcing or unnamed "people familiar." No board decision has been announced. Until Nvidia confirms an outcome, the reported ouster remains exactly that: a report.