Nvidia board preparing to oust CEO Huang, WSJ reports

Nvidia ↗ 2.87% shares fell about 8% to 9% in extended trading Wednesday, November 11, after The Wall Street Journal News Corp ↗ 0.40% reported that the chipmaker's board is preparing to remove co-founder and CEO Jensen Huang. Citing people familiar with the matter, the Journal said the board could meet as soon as Wednesday to decide his future. The selloff wiped out a 2.9% gain from the regular session. It also extended a slide that has erased more than $450 billion in market value since Nvidia announced its probe into Huang on November 8.cnn.com+3

A second alleged affair

Earlier Wednesday evening, The New York Times reported that Huang, 63, had an extramarital relationship with Kimberly Powell, 48, Nvidia's vice president of health care, who reports directly to him. The paper cited five people who worked at the company. According to the Times, the two were filmed being affectionate at a San Jose hotel during Nvidia's GTC conference in March. Huang's security team then reportedly offered the bystander who recorded them a nondisclosure agreement. When the Times reached him by phone, Huang said, "I don't think you should be calling me directly," and hung up. Neither Nvidia nor Powell commented.nytimes.com+2

Nvidia's code of conduct tells employees to avoid situations, including personal relationships, that create conflicts of interest.nytimes.com

Spy probe already underway

The new report adds to an existing crisis. On November 8, Huang admitted in an email to staff that he had an affair, and the board opened an independent investigation into whether he was the target of a foreign intelligence effort. The investigation follows reports that the woman, Alice Huang, a former Megaspeed executive, is a suspected Chinese intelligence asset. The board has said it has "no reason to believe that either national security or NVIDIA secrets were compromised." It hired former acting U.S. Attorney Joon Kim of Wachtell Lipton to lead the review. China has called the spying allegations groundless.cnbc.com+2

Markets weigh a post-Huang Nvidia

On prediction markets, traders raised the odds that Huang will leave. Kalshi priced his exit by the end of the week as slightly more likely than not, while Polymarket put the odds of a departure announced by year-end above 75%. Rival chipmakers rose after hours, with Advanced Micro Devices ↗ 7.32% and Broadcom ↗ 3.99% both moving higher.investopedia.com+1

The turmoil comes days before Nvidia is set to report third-quarter results next week. Huang founded the company in 1993 and is widely seen as the face of the AI boom, which is why his possible exit is unsettling investors.cbsnews.com+1