Nvidia Board Meets to Decide Jensen Huang's Future as $600 Billion Evaporates

Nvidia has lost roughly $600 billion in market value this week as its board meets Wednesday to decide whether to remove founder and CEO Jensen Huang, according to Reuters. The Wall Street Journal first reported the board was preparing to oust Huang, and the news triggered an 8% after-hours share decline. The New York Post put the weekly loss at more than $400 billion — either figure means investors have wiped out a sum larger than most S&P 500 companies in a matter of days.

The stakes are structural, not just reputational. Huang, 63, co-founded Nvidia in 1993 and has run the roughly $4 trillion chipmaker for more than three decades with no clear succession plan and roughly 60 direct reports. He owns about 3.6% of the company's stock. Nvidia did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the meeting.

What does the board actually decide on Wednesday?

The directors are weighing removal, a temporary CEO, or some middle path. Bloomberg reported Wednesday that Nvidia is working with an outside firm to explore potential replacements and is considering naming an interim chief executive. That fallback matters because, as Gil Luria, head of technology research at D.A. Davidson, put it: "Huang being removed immediately could be challenging for Nvidia since it does not have a succession plan in place."

The board's problems compound from there:

• It launched an investigation into whether Huang was targeted by a foreign intelligence operation, overseen by independent directors with outside legal counsel.
• It hired Joon Kim, a partner at Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz who previously investigated former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, to examine the first affair.
• The foreign-intelligence probe has produced no public findings.

The board's decision timeline beyond Wednesday's meeting is unclear — a gap investors will have to price without information.

What are the two affairs at the center of the crisis?

The first involves Alice Huang (no relation), an executive at Singapore-based Megaspeed. U.S. intelligence has said she was involved in facilitating shipments of Nvidia chips to Chinese firms. The Information reported Tuesday that Alice Huang, her sister, and her husband built a web of companies in China and Singapore that facilitated at least $7.5 billion in Nvidia chip sales to China — including 240,000 restricted H100, H200, and A100 chips. For scale, 240,000 flagship AI chips represents a meaningful slice of the restricted hardware Washington has spent years trying to keep out of Chinese hands. Century Litong, one company in the network, said it obtained Nvidia's preferred cloud partner qualification through compliant channels and had no business dealings with Ms. Huang.

Jensen Huang acknowledged infidelity in a memo to employees Sunday. "I was unfaithful to my wife. My actions hurt her and our children. There is no excuse for what I did. I am deeply sorry," he wrote. He gave no details about the relationship. Huang has been married to his wife for over 40 years.

On Wednesday, the New York Times reported a second affair — with Kimberly Powell, Nvidia's vice president of healthcare and one of Huang's direct reports. The Times, citing five people who worked at the company, said Huang and Powell were seen being affectionate at a hotel during a company conference in March. Reached by phone, Huang said, "I don't think you should be talking to me directly," and hung up. Nvidia and Powell did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Reuters could not independently verify the report.

How far does the political fallout reach?

Congress is moving. House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Brian Mast, Select China Committee Chairman John Moolenaar, and Intelligence Committee Chairman Rick Crawford sent Huang a letter requesting a closed-door briefing. "Recent reports raise significant national security concerns regarding the PRC's access to sensitive U.S. technology and information," the letter stated. Huang had until Nov. 11 to respond and set a date; Mast said subpoenas would likely follow non-compliance.

President Donald Trump has backed Huang, calling him "an honorable guy" who had "done an amazing job for our country." Trump also said the FBI is "looking into" the matter. The New York Times reported Trump was briefed aboard Air Force One in May by Secretary of State Marco Rubio about intelligence showing Huang's relationship with a woman believed to be a Chinese spy — shortly before Huang joined Trump's trip to Beijing.

Sen. Kevin Cramer, a senior Republican on the Banking Committee, broke ranks and called for resignation: "The potential for extortion is so tremendous that something as sensitive as Nvidia chips, I just think he's got to go." Separately, the Commerce Department extended the suspension of an export control rule covering affiliates of listed entities until Jan. 10, 2027.

What do analysts expect the market to do?

Nvidia shares fell about 7% in after-hours trading Wednesday, per Reuters's count of 8%. Rivals AMD and Broadcom rose 4% and 3% respectively, reflecting expectations they could gain share. Nick Ferres, chief investment officer at Vantage Point Asset Management, warned the risk runs deeper than one CEO: "Nvidia is also at the centre of the circular financing which is providing capital to the investment boom. 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."

Patrick Moorhead of Moor Insights & Strategy said Huang's ouster risk is now high, citing Intel's removal of former CEO Brian Krzanich over a relationship with an employee. He noted Nvidia's roadmap is set for years but flagged long-term execution risk given how the company is built around Huang. Baird analyst Tristan Gerra downgraded Nvidia to Neutral, citing "U.S. government action likely resulting from the upcoming congressional hearing," "U.S. government investigations," and "uncertainties around CEO tenure."

Not everyone sees the franchise cracking. "I don't see the next 12 to 18 months of revenue suddenly disappearing if Jensen were to leave," said Shay Boloor, chief market strategist at The Futurum Group. Dan Ives of Yorkville Ives estimated Nvidia could be worth 25-30% less without Huang: "Jensen is the core DNA of Nvidia... there is no other person on the management team bench that can step in seamlessly as CEO."

What remains unresolved?

The FBI investigation's scope and progress are not public. Whether Huang complies with the congressional request or faces subpoenas remains open. And Nvidia's earnings report lands next week, compressing the timeline for any resolution. The central supplier of the global AI boom now faces its most severe leadership crisis in three decades, and the national security questions extend well beyond corporate governance.