Nvidia preparing to oust CEO Jensen Huang who had second affair with exec: reports

Detailed summary

Huang also had a relationship with Nvidia’s vice-president of healthcare Kimberly Powell

Huang also had a relationship with Nvidia’s vice-president of healthcare Kimberly Powell

NVIDIA’S board is preparing to oust CEO Jensen Huang after he had two extramarital affairs, including one with a suspected Chinese spy, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday (Nov 11), citing people familiar with the matter.

The board is preparing to meet as soon as Wednesday to determine his future, the report added.

Huang also had an affair with an executive who reports to him, the New York Times reported on the same day.

Huang had a relationship with Kimberly Powell, Nvidia’s vice-president of healthcare, the Times reported, citing unidentified people who worked at the company. Huang and Powell were captured on video being affectionate at a hotel in San Jose, California, during an Nvidia conference in March, according to the Times.

Huang’s potential departure would leave a leadership vacuum at the roughly US$4 trillion chipmaker he co-founded and built over more than three decades to become the dominant supplier of AI chips at the centre of the global artificial-intelligence boom and US-China technology rivalry.

The company’s shares slid about 8 per cent in after-hours trading. Including Wednesday’s after-hours selloff, Nvidia has lost about US$600 billion in stock market value this week since the board announced its investigation.

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“Huang being removed immediately could be challenging for Nvidia since it does not have a succession plan in place ... If Mr. Huang broke the law or violated company policies, the board is likely to act as soon as they have proof,” Gil Luria, head of technology research at D.A. Davidson, said.

Opening of the article, excerpted from The Business Times. To read the rest, open the article on the publisher's site.