'Broken and shattered': Jensen Huang’s last hours as Nvidia CEO

Detailed summary

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang resigned after confessing to romantic relationships linked to a suspected Chinese spy and a company executive. Chief Financial Officer Colette Kress will…

At the end, Jensen Huang looked broken and shattered, his legendary energy depleted. After weeks spent denying the allegations of infidelity and fighting to remain in his job as Nvidia Corp.’s chief executive officer, his surrender late Wednesday night was unconditional. Huang’s usual take-charge demeanour had evaporated, according to a person familiar with the situation, and he’d started using phrases like “whatever” and “I don’t care.”

For the decades he spent building Nvidia into a multitrillion-dollar AI chip behemoth, Huang was famous for his attention to the tiniest of details, from chip architecture to the compensation packages of even the most junior employees at the company. Now, in the eyes of the people in the room, he had given up.

According to people who’ve spoken with him in recent days, Huang has already taken a penitent turn, castigating himself as a “piece of sh--.”

It was a stunningly quick fall for a billionaire and tech titan who two weeks ago was the face of artificial intelligence around the world. With his directness and vigor, he had charmed US President Donald Trump, shaped global tech policy and drawn adoring crowds on his papal-style international tours.

It’s hard to imagine the current AI boom happening without Huang, his company and their chips, and it’s hard to imagine what it will look like after his fall. As Harvey Jones, chair of the company’s board of directors, wrote in an email to employees after Huang’s ouster, “Jensen’s contributions to Nvidia are profound. Nvidia is one of the most consequential technology companies in the world.”

When the news broke in late October that Huang had close ties with a woman suspected of being a Chinese spy, it looked like he would prevail. The board of directors, dominated by longtime investors, business partners and friends of Huang’s, was reluctant to act on the news stories, or even publicly comment on them.

Most of the news coverage tiptoed around the exact nature of the CEO’s relationship with…

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