Nvidia shares fall 5.47% as calls for Huang’s resignation widen

By Rebecca Stone

Nvidia shares closed at $168.89 on Tuesday, Nov. 10, down 5.47% after a 4.27% Monday decline, according to Yahoo Finance data. Sen. Kevin Cramer that day demanded CEO Jensen Huang’s resignation.

Cramer, a North Dakota Republican on the Senate Banking Committee, told Politico late Nov. 10 that Huang should step down because his relationship with a woman whom U.S. officials reportedly suspect works for Chinese intelligence creates an extortion risk. Cramer said: “The potential for extortion is so tremendous that something as sensitive as Nvidia chips, I just think he’s got to go.”

Cramer said that even if Huang’s worst conduct was infidelity with the woman, uncertainty about her possible intelligence role was itself a security risk. He called Nvidia’s board-led investigation “fine, but not nearly enough”; Nvidia did not immediately respond to Politico’s request for comment.

The demand widened hours before Cramer spoke. Larry Kudlow, who ran the National Economic Council during Trump’s first term and now hosts a Fox Business program, called on Huang to resign on Tuesday. He called resignation the one common-sense action and predicted Democrats would press their case after taking control of Congress in January.

Kudlow also argued that Huang was no longer a good spokesperson for the AI industry. Politico did not say whether Cramer was the first sitting senator to seek Huang’s resignation.

President Donald Trump took the opposite position. On Monday, he said he knew Huang well, described him as very honorable, said the FBI was looking into the matter and expected Huang to be in good shape.

On Sunday, Trump had called Huang a fine person who should remain CEO. The White House declined to tell Fox News Digital whether the administration would keep engaging with Huang and pointed to Trump’s earlier comments.

Democratic lawmakers have taken a different route, pressing for investigations rather than resignation. Sen. Chris Coons, expected to chair the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said Congress would investigate and get answers. Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer called Tuesday for a full accounting of Trump’s defense; outside Congress, Humans First chair Amy Kremer said Huang was compromised and should resign.

How does the leadership fight reach China sales?

Cramer’s committee oversees legislation that could curb Nvidia chip sales to China, giving the leadership question a direct revenue consequence. Three bills introduced there are under consideration for inclusion in the National Defense Authorization Act:

• AI OVERWATCH Act
• Chip Security Act
• MATCH Act

Politico said their odds of inclusion appeared to rise after the allegations became public. Fortune AI editor Jeremy Kahn said Huang’s influence on U.S. policy would likely be greatly diminished even if he remained CEO, potentially emboldening China hawks seeking tighter export restrictions.

What do the board review and November deadlines mean for Nvidia?

The allegations rest on press reports of U.S. intelligence assessments. Last month, The New York Times reported that U.S. officials had concluded Alice Huang, a businesswoman linked to Singapore-based Nvidia customer Megaspeed, was a Chinese intelligence asset suspected of helping funnel advanced Nvidia chips to China.

She has not been charged. China’s government has called the allegations smears.

Huang admitted to staff on Nov. 8 that he had been unfaithful to his wife, but he did not name her or address the spying claims. Axios reported that Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick received a classified memo about the relationship.

Nvidia’s board said it had no reason to believe that national security or Nvidia secrets had been compromised. On Tuesday, independent directors retained Joon H. Kim, the former acting U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and his firm, Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, to run the review.

Nvidia reports fiscal third-quarter results on Nov. 17. Republican chairmen of three House committees have asked Huang to attend a closed-door briefing on Nov. 18. The sequence puts the company’s financial update and congressional oversight on the same immediate calendar.

Over the next eight days, Nvidia’s Nov. 17 results and Huang’s Nov. 18 briefing will frame the commercial risk: tighter U.S. export rules could restrict China sales even if the board clears Huang.