Nvidia Board Moves to Oust CEO Jensen Huang as Stock Slides 8%

Nvidia's board is preparing to remove co-founder and CEO Jensen Huang after 33 years at the top, the Wall Street Journal reports. Sources told the newspaper that the board will meet as soon as Wednesday to decide Huang's future at the company he co-founded.

The stock market has already delivered its verdict. Nvidia shares fell about 8% in after-hours trading on Wednesday. Over the past five days, the stock is down about 11%.

What triggered the board's move?

The board's action follows two separate admissions of misconduct. On Sunday, Huang admitted to an extramarital affair with a woman whom U.S. intelligence purports to be a Chinese spy. On Wednesday evening, the New York Times reported that Huang also had an affair with an executive who reports directly to him.

The second report changes the character of the scandal. An affair with an outside individual raises personal and reputational questions. An affair with a direct subordinate raises governance questions — questions a board cannot defer while the company's valuation hangs in the balance.

The intelligence angle compounds the risk. A relationship involving a person identified by U.S. intelligence as a Chinese spy touches on national-security exposure at a company whose chips sit at the center of American AI infrastructure.

Why is succession such a hard problem?

Nvidia has no obvious successor and no succession plan, according to the reporting. Huang famously delegates very little and manages about 60 direct reports, he has said. That structure concentrates decisions in one office and leaves no clear second-in-command.

The board is working around the gap. According to Bloomberg, Nvidia has hired an outside firm to identify candidates who could potentially replace Huang as CEO.

The math explains the urgency. One CEO, roughly 60 direct reports, no designated heir, and a board meeting set for as soon as Wednesday. Every element of that structure compresses the timeline for an orderly transition.

How much is at stake?

Nvidia has become one of the most valuable companies in the world. It designs the chips that power the AI boom, which makes its leadership stability a market-wide concern rather than a single-company matter.

The share price already reflects the risk. An 8% after-hours drop on Wednesday and an 11% decline over five days show investors pricing in both the scandal and the uncertainty over who runs the company next.

What happens next?

The board meeting could come as soon as Wednesday, according to the Wall Street Journal's sources. Bloomberg's reporting on the outside search firm indicates the board is preparing for an actual replacement, not just a suspension or leave of absence for Huang.

Investors will watch three things: the board's decision, the identity of any candidate the outside firm surfaces, and whether the stock's five-day slide accelerates or stabilizes once a decision is announced. For a company with Nvidia's weight in the AI supply chain, the market's reaction to that announcement will extend well beyond a single boardroom.