Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang resigns over affair scandal after stock price plunges

Detailed summary

Board of directors met to decide executive’s fate as shares fell 9 percent in after-hours trading, knocking $350 billion off value of chipmaker powering global AI boom

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Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang has resigned after the chipmaker was rocked by allegations about his personal life, including that he had an affair with a woman alleged to be a Chinese spy as well as with a married subordinate.

The company’s board of directors reportedly met to decide executive’s fate after shares fell 9 percent in after-hours trading Wednesday, knocking $350 billion off the company’s value.

Announcing the resignation in a statement Thursday, the company said: “Jensen’s contributions to NVIDIA are profound. NVIDIA is one of the most consequential technology companies in the world. The Board and the company thank Jensen for his immeasurable contributions to the company and the industry.”

Huang, 63, was revealed to have had an affair with former Megaspeed director Alice Huang — no relation — whom U.S. intelligence has said facilitated shipments of Nvidia’s microchips to Chinese firms as part of a foreign intelligence operation.

The infidelity was first reported by The New York Times, which then alleged that the executive had also had a relationship with Kimberly Powell, his company’s vice president of healthcare, who is also married.

Huang’s exit creates a leadership vacuum at the $4 trillion chipmaker he co-founded in 1993 and has led ever since, which is the driving force behind the global AI boom and at the heart of the big tech arms race between the U.S. and China.

Colette Kress, current executive vice president and chief financial officer will serve as interim chief executive officer until a permanent successor has been named. The Board has started a search for a permanent CEO and will consider internal and external candidates, the firm said Thursday.

“Colette has helped lead Nvidia through a period of extraordinary growth and has a deep understanding of our business, customers, operations and financial position,” said Harvey Jones, Chair of…

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