Nvidia’s Succession Test: Six Candidates, a 5% Drop, No Plan

By Nathan Brooks

Nvidia shares fell about 5% in midday trading Monday, amid an investigation by the company into CEO and founder Jensen Huang’s relationship with a business executive whom U.S. intelligence officials say is a Chinese spy. Huang will remain chief executive during the investigation, but Nvidia (Nasdaq: NVDA) has no formal succession plan.

The investigation has turned succession into a live governance test. Six possible successors are drawing attention, but Nvidia has no clear, formally designated heir and no formal transition plan.

Unlike many large companies, Nvidia has not mapped the leadership succession in advance. If the board moves to dismiss Huang, the gap could create a power vacuum at a company at the center of the artificial intelligence industry.

The inquiry has also exposed a limit on Huang’s control: he does not hold a supermajority of Nvidia’s voting power, unlike Elon Musk at SpaceX. He therefore cannot force the company to keep him if the board calls for his dismissal; in practical terms, he cannot block the board on his own.

Some investors dismiss the possibility that Nvidia’s board will push Huang out, while some analysts say it is possible. Neither view establishes that the board will act.

“I doubt Jensen Huang will be able to remain as [Nvidia’s] CEO,” wrote Gary Black, managing partner of The Future Fund, in a social-media post. His assessment put a possible departure into the public debate. It did not amount to an announced board action or identify an agreed successor.

What does this change for Nvidia’s investors and customers?

The investigation leaves Huang in charge but keeps the succession question open. With no formal plan, investors face the risk that a board challenge could come before Nvidia has a designated heir. That risk is sharper because Huang lacks the supermajority Musk holds at SpaceX and cannot force Nvidia to retain him.

For customers and supply-chain partners, the issue is continuity. Huang says Nvidia’s performance affects the tech sector and the broader market. Supply-chain and collaboration partners worldwide are also counting on the company to meet its responsibilities. A leadership dispute would carry consequences beyond the founder’s job title.

Huang has addressed the unusual leadership situation over the past year, and he has run Nvidia since 1993. At a January Q&A session with the media at CES, attended by Inc., Huang said he had no plans to go anywhere. His answer mixed personal caution with a conditional view of tenure.

“The secret for being CEO for this long is 1) don’t get fired and 2) don’t get bored,” he said. “I don’t know which one comes first. How long [will I remain CEO]? For as long as I deserve it.”

That response answers the immediate question of whether Huang intends to leave without resolving who follows him. He committed to staying, but tied his continuation to his own judgment about deserving the role. Nvidia’s board still has no named endpoint for the transition and no voting supermajority that guarantees his retention.

Huang also framed his tenure in terms of Nvidia’s responsibility to the wider industry. “We are the captain of this industry and we have supply chain partners and collaboration partners all over the world who are counting on us to do our part,” he said. “So there is a great responsibility that comes with our company.”

For shareholders, the practical concern is not merely whether Huang stays. It is whether the board can identify a credible successor before it considers dismissal. For Nvidia’s customers, the concern is continuity with the supply-chain and collaboration relationships Huang says the company must support. The investigation does not resolve either question, but it makes them harder to defer.

The immediate focus remains Huang’s relationship with the business executive and his tenure during the investigation. Nvidia still has no formal succession plan, no clear successor and no voting supermajority securing the founder’s position. Any board move would carry a combined governance and execution test for the company at the center of AI.