Jensen Huang shows the risk of becoming an indispensable leader

Detailed summary

Jensen Huang's abrupt exit from Nvidia exposes the succession challenges of its flat leadership structure — and offers a lesson to other leaders.

For years, Jensen Huang embraced a flat leadership model as he molded Nvidia into one of the world's most powerful companies. His sudden exit Wednesday amid scandal puts that arrangement to the test like never before. After cofounding the chip giant at a Denny's restaurant in the early 1990s, Huang went on to lead Nvidia with as many as 60 direct reports. That deliberately flat structure at the top was something he credited with helping the company keep information "fluid" and employees empowered. Yet the halo surrounding a successful tech founder, combined with an org chart light on top layers, can leave a company with a thin succession bench, C-suite observers told Business Insider.

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