Jensen Huang falls to No. 10 on Forbes list amid spy probe

Nvidia ↘ 5.47% CEO Jensen Huang's fortune fell by about $6.8 billion on Monday, November 9, leaving him at $155.4 billion, a 4.19% drop for the day, according to Forbes' real-time billionaires tracker. The loss moved him to No. 10 on the list, behind Berkshire Hathaway ↗ 1.41% chairman Warren Buffett and Oracle ↘ 1.51% co-founder Larry Ellison. Nvidia's board had announced it was investigating reports that he was the target of a foreign intelligence operation.financialexpress.com+1

A Monday sell-off

Within the first half-hour of trading, Huang's net worth dropped $7.4 billion to $154.7 billion, taking him from No. 8 to No. 10, Forbes reported. He was the only person in the top 10 whose fortune fell that afternoon. Nvidia shares fell as much as 9% during the session and closed about 4% lower. Their close was the lowest since April 7, even as the S&P 500 ↘ 0.37% rallied, Reuters reported. The slide also left Nvidia further behind Apple ↘ 0.62% in market value.forbes.com+3

This was his second big loss in a week. On November 5, a broader selloff in chip stocks cut Huang's fortune by about $12 billion, and he fell from No. 7 to No. 9. On Tuesday morning, Nvidia shares edged higher in premarket trading.forbes.com+1

The investigation

On October 29, The New York Times ↗ 0.57% reported that U.S. officials had concluded Alice Huang, an executive at Nvidia customer Megaspeed, was "a Chinese intelligence asset, funneling information to Beijing". Huang told staff in an email over the weekend that he had been "unfaithful" to his wife. On Sunday, Nvidia's board said a committee of independent directors and outside counsel would review the matter. The board added that it had "no reason to believe that either national security or NVIDIA secrets were compromised". China has called the allegations unsubstantiated.cnbc.com+2

Political backing

President Donald Trump said on Monday that the FBI is investigating. He also said he had spoken with Huang. "I asked him that question: 'Did you have any idea that she was a spy?' He said: 'I had no idea that she was a spy,' and I really believe him," Trump told reporters. Nvidia also faces a proposed shareholder class action alleging it did not disclose the relationship.cryptotimes.io+2