NVIDIA Moves to Remove Jensen Huang, Shaking AI Semiconductor Market (Roundup)

Stock Plunges Amid Possibility of Disgraceful Departure
NYT Reveals Extramarital Affair Involving NVIDIA Executive
NVIDIA, Which Said There Would Be No CEO Change, Searches for Successor

NVIDIA, a U.S. artificial intelligence (AI) semiconductor company, is reportedly moving to remove CEO Jensen Huang after he had an extramarital affair with a woman suspected of being a "Chinese spy." The possibility of Huang's disgraceful departure, after leading the company for 33 years since co-founding NVIDIA in 1993, has been raised, sending the stock plunging and heightening uncertainty across the AI semiconductor industry.

NVIDIA Board to Hold Meeting on the 11th

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The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported on the 11th local time, citing people familiar with the matter, that NVIDIA's board was preparing to meet as early as that day to decide Huang's future as CEO. NVIDIA launched an independent investigation after Huang admitted to the affair on the 8th and appointed outside legal experts to investigate the allegations. Other foreign media outlets, including the UK's Financial Times (FT), also reported that the meeting was underway.

Huang admitted to having a relationship with Alice Huang, a former executive at Megaspeed, a Singaporean data center company suspected of having ties to Chinese intelligence agencies. Alice Huang reportedly used her relationship with the CEO to supply at least $7.5 billion worth of semiconductors to Chinese companies through Megaspeed, a Singaporean company she owns. The New York Times (NYT) also revealed the previous day that Huang had an extramarital relationship with Kimberly Powell, an NVIDIA vice president and one of the company's senior executives, who leads its healthcare division.

As details of Huang's private life continue to emerge, NVIDIA is reportedly searching for candidates to succeed him as CEO. Initially, NVIDIA maintained that there would be "no change in the CEO" even after Huang admitted to the affair.

Bloomberg reported that NVIDIA is working with an outside firm to search for candidates to succeed Huang, and named Colette Kress, who has worked at NVIDIA for 10 years and serves as its chief financial officer (CFO), as a candidate. Other names being discussed include NVIDIA Vice President Ian Buck, Arm CEO Rene Haas, and AMD CEO Lisa Su. However, WSJ and other outlets reported that no official decision on whether Huang will be removed or who will succeed him has been confirmed.

Armina Rosenberg, co-founder and portfolio manager at Minotaur Capital, put forward CFO Kress as a candidate for interim CEO, but noted that "the more difficult challenge is finding someone who can guide the company's technology development over the long term."

Succession Planning Was Needed, but Jensen Huang Refused

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Huang's distinctive management style is one reason the search for a successor is difficult. According to the NYT, executives had previously raised the need to groom a successor internally, but Huang did not accept the idea. He was concerned that choosing a successor could trigger competition among executives and divisions within the company.

Huang has also expressed opposition to the possibility of his daughter, Madison Huang, a senior NVIDIA executive in product marketing, succeeding him. Unlike the multilayered reporting structures common at large corporations, he has maintained an organizational structure in which about 60 executives report directly to him. Analysts say that because authority over the company's major businesses, technology development, and customer relationships is concentrated in Huang's hands, it is difficult for a successor with the experience to oversee the entire company to emerge. In a Bloomberg interview last month, Huang said he wanted to keep working for decades to come.

Legally, the board appears to face few significant obstacles to removing Huang as CEO. Article 32 of NVIDIA's publicly available bylaws allows the board to remove an officer, with or without cause, with the approval of a majority of the directors then in office. In other words, being the company's founder does not prevent the board from removing him as CEO.

According to NVIDIA's 2026 proxy materials, Huang owns about 3.58% of the company's shares. He also does not hold special voting rights that would allow him to block a board decision on his own. However, removal as CEO and removal from the board are separate matters, so stepping down as CEO would not automatically cost Huang his board seat.

Market Impact... Stock Plunges 8% in After-Hours Trading

Financial markets were shaken by the possibility of Huang's departure. NVIDIA shares plunged about 8% in after-hours trading following reports that the company was moving to remove him. As uncertainty surrounding NVIDIA spread, Nasdaq 100 futures also fell about 0.7%. In Japan, shares of NVIDIA suppliers Ibiden and Advantest, among others, weakened. By contrast, competitors AMD and Broadcom rose about 4% and 3%, respectively, in after-hours trading.

The possibility of a management change at NVIDIA has also emerged as a factor affecting the global AI semiconductor supply chain. NVIDIA is involved across the global AI industry not only through sales of advanced AI semiconductors, but also through data center investments and funding for AI companies. In particular, as it works to develop and supply Vera Rubin, its next-generation platform following its flagship Blackwell product, a management change could affect product launch schedules or cooperation with customers. However, there is no confirmation that Huang's future at the company has caused any actual disruption to production or supply.

Domestic semiconductor companies, including Samsung Electronics and SK hynix, could also be affected. Both companies are expanding their high-bandwidth memory (HBM) businesses, which supply memory for NVIDIA's AI accelerators, and are also pursuing cooperation on the supply of next-generation HBM4.

"Whether the board keeps Jensen Huang or removes him, there is no outright victory for NVIDIA," said Hebe Chen, senior market analyst at Vantage Global Prime. "Ultimately, it comes down to what risks the company is prepared to take."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.