Nvidia sheds $430 billion in value as allegations tie CEO's affair to $7.5 billion chip smuggling ring

Résumé détaillé

The crisis at Nvidia has taken a dark geopolitical turn. Fresh reports allege that Jensen Huang's relationship with a suspected Chinese spy directly aided the illegal diversion of…

Nvidia shed about $430 billion in market value over two sessions as new reports deepened questions about CEO Jensen Huang’s relationship with a Chinese businesswoman alleged to be a spy for Beijing.

The controversy escalated on several fronts on Tuesday as allegations emerged that Huang’s relationship with Alice Huang aided at least $7.5 billion in Nvidia chip shipments to China and that US Secretary of State Marco Rubio had previously briefed President Donald Trump on the affair.

Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer demanded answers from the administration and tighter curbs on chip exports to China, while the company’s independent directors hired outside counsel to investigate.

Republican US Senator Kevin Cramer from the Senate Banking Committee called on Huang to step down as CEO.

”The potential for extortion is so tremendous that something as sensitive as Nvidia chips, I just think he’s got to go,” Cramer told Politico late on Tuesday.

The allegations have turned Huang’s personal conduct into a broader risk for Nvidia, raising questions about the company’s governance and its dependence on the CEO who has led it for more than three decades and built it into the dominant supplier of AI chips. He owns about 3.6% of the company — but does not have majority voting control — and runs an unusually flat organization in which dozens of executives report directly to him.

The FBI is separately examining whether 63-year-old Huang was targeted by a foreign intelligence operation. Huang has told employees he was unfaithful to his wife, but provided no details about the relationship. China’s foreign ministry has said the spy accusations are ”groundless.”

Huang apologized to top executives at a closed-door meeting on Monday before pivoting to business and was back holding meetings at Nvidia’s headquarters on Tuesday, CNBC reported.

Nvidia has said its board has no reason to believe US national security or company secrets were compromised and that Huang has committed to cooperating…

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