Jensen Huang Could Lose NVIDIA CEO Role Over Two Romantic Relationships

NVIDIA’s board is holding an emergency meeting to decide the future of CEO Jensen Huang. A scandal involving two extramarital relationships has already sent the company’s stock down and put his position at risk.

On Sunday, the board expressed confidence in Huang and his team, but the situation has since changed. Under NVIDIA’s bylaws, a majority vote of the 11-member board is enough to dismiss the CEO. All directors except Huang are considered independent.

NVIDIA shares fell more than 8% in after-hours trading after The Wall Street Journal reported that the company was preparing to dismiss Huang. If the decline holds, NVIDIA’s market value will have fallen by approximately $600 billion since the announcement of an investigation into Huang’s relationship with businesswoman Alice Huang, who is suspected of spying for China.

Further questions arose after reports that US intelligence had investigated Alice Huang’s possible involvement in supplying NVIDIA chips to Chinese companies. The board launched an internal investigation and hired outside lawyers. US lawmakers have also sought tighter restrictions on chip exports to China.

The possible departure of Huang, 63, would pose a serious problem for the company, which is worth about $4 trillion. The NVIDIA co-founder has no obvious successor. Bloomberg reported that the board has already hired an outside firm to search for candidates. Chief Financial Officer Colette Kress has been named as a possible interim leader, while data center chief Ian Buck has been mentioned as a contender for the permanent position.

The situation was further complicated by a New York Times report about a second extramarital relationship involving Huang and Kimberly Powell, NVIDIA’s vice president of healthcare. The newspaper cited five former company employees. When reporters asked Huang about the relationship, he replied, “I don’t think you should be contacting me directly,” before hanging up.