Nvidia’s board met late on Wednesday, US time, to decide whether to oust CEO Jensen Huang, a source familiar with the matter said, as the world’s dominant supplier of AI chips grapples with reports of two extramarital affairs involving its long-time leader.
Nvidia did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the board meeting.
The meeting is a sharp shift from Sunday, when Nvidia’s board expressed confidence in Huang and his leadership team. Under Nvidia’s bylaws, Huang can be removed “with or without cause” by a majority vote of directors. Nvidia has 11 directors and considers all but Huang independent.
Nvidia’s stock slid more than 8% in extended trading after The Wall Street Journal first reported that the company was preparing to fire Huang. If those losses hold, Nvidia will have lost about US$600-billion in market value since the board announced its investigation into his relationship with Alice Huang, a businesswoman alleged to be a Chinese spy.
The market is starting to price Nvidia without its founder as the likely outcome, not a tail risk. Losing Jensen would be a real blow.
Armina Rosenberg, Minotaur Capital
Revelations that US intelligence was probing Alice Huang for facilitating shipments of Nvidia chips to Chinese firms set off a series of events. Wall Street began raising questions about Nvidia’s governance and Jensen Huang’s personal conduct, the company’s board launched an internal investigation and hired outside counsel, and lawmakers began to push for tighter curbs on chip exports to China.
“The market is starting to price Nvidia without its founder as the likely outcome, not a tail risk,” said Armina Rosenberg, portfolio manager and co-founder of Minotaur Capital, which holds Nvidia shares. “Losing Jensen would be a real blow.”
No obvious successor
Huang’s departure would leave a leadership vacuum at the chip maker, worth about $4-trillion, which he co-founded and built over more than three decades into the top supplier of the chips at the centre of the global AI boom and the US-China technology rivalry.
Huang, 63, has no obvious successor and owns about 3.6% of Nvidia’s stock. He also has dozens of direct reports, underscoring the tight control he maintains over the company.
Bloomberg reported on Wednesday that Nvidia’s board has been working with an outside firm to identify potential replacements for Huang, citing a person familiar with the situation.
Rosenberg said CFO Colette Kress, who has held the role for more than a decade, would be the natural choice as interim CEO, but that the bigger question was who would lead Nvidia’s technology road map in the longer term.
Odds on prediction market Polymarket shifted sharply to show an 88% chance that Huang would resign or be removed by the end of the year. Odds for his successor favoured Ian Buck, who oversees the business that serves Nvidia’s data centre clients.
The leadership turmoil comes days before Nvidia reports quarterly results and updates investors on its outlook, on 17 November.
Earlier on Wednesday, The New York Times reported that Huang had also had an extramarital affair with Kimberly Powell, Nvidia’s vice president of healthcare, who reported to him. The newspaper cited five people who had worked at the company.
Reached by phone on Wednesday and asked about his relationship with Powell, Huang said, “I don’t think you should be talking to me directly,” and hung up, the newspaper reported.
Nvidia and Powell did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Reuters could not immediately verify the report.
Market fallout
US stock futures sank, with Nasdaq futures down 1%. Micron fell nearly 2% and CoreWeave dropped 6% in after-hours trading. However, shares of rival chip makers AMD and Broadcom rose 4% and 3%, respectively.
In Asia, Samsung Electronics rose about 1% while SK Hynix dipped nearly 1%.
Investors and analysts said that while demand for Nvidia’s chips was unlikely to drop in the near term, the broader universe of companies backed by Nvidia – largely customers building data centres that will use its chips – might suffer.
“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,” said Nick Ferres, chief investment officer at Vantage Point Asset Management in Singapore.
Investigation widens
In a memo to employees on Sunday, Huang acknowledged being unfaithful to his wife and took “full responsibility”, but gave no details about the relationship.
US President Donald Trump, a close ally, has voiced support for the Nvidia chief. He said on Monday that Huang had told him he had no idea the woman was a spy.
Huang faces a possible congressional subpoena if he does not agree to a request to give a closed-door briefing about his relationship with Alice Huang.
Separately, Axios reported on Wednesday, citing high-level sources, that US commerce secretary Howard Lutnick stalled Trump’s crackdown on companies suspected of diverting Nvidia’s chips to China.
The White House and a spokesman for Lutnick did not immediately respond to requests for comment. – Aishwarya Venugopal and Alexandra Alper, with Prathik Jayaprakash, Chris Thomas, Tom Westbrook and Ankur Banerjee, (c) 2026 Reuters
