Nvidia board meets to decide CEO Huang's future

Detailed summary

Nvidia's board was meeting late last night to decide whether to oust CEO Jensen Huang, as the world's dominant supplier of AI chips grapples with fallout from reports of two…

Nvidia's board was meeting late last night to decide whether to oust CEO Jensen Huang, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters, as the world's dominant supplier of AI chips grapples with fallout from reports of two extramarital affairs involving its longtime leader.

Nvidia did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the board meeting.

The meeting marks a sharp shift from Sunday, when Nvidia's board expressed confidence in Huang and his leadership team.

Under Nvidia's bylaws, Huang can be removed "with or without cause" by a majority vote of directors. Nvidia has 11 directors and considers all but Huang independent.

Nvidia's stock slid more than 8% in extended trading after the Wall Street Journal first reported that the company was preparing to fire Huang.

If those losses hold, Nvidia will have lost about $600 billion in market value since the board announced its investigation into his relationship with a businesswoman called Alice Huang alleged to be a Chinese spy.

Revelations that US intelligence was probing Alice Huang for facilitating shipments of Nvidia chips to Chinese firms set off a series of events: Wall Street began raising questions about Nvidia's governance and Jensen Huang's personal conduct, the company's board launched an internal investigation and hired outside counsel, while politicians began to push for tighter curbs on chip exports to China.

"The market is starting to price Nvidia without its founder as the likely outcome, not a tail risk," said Armina Rosenberg, portfolio manager and co-founder of Minotaur Capital, which holds Nvidia shares. "Losing Jensen would be a real blow."

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

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