NuAxiSemiconductor trade intelligence

Nvidia Board Prepares to Oust Jensen Huang, Decision Could Come as Soon as Nov. 11

What happened

The Wall Street Journal reported Nov. 11, citing people familiar with the matter, that Nvidia's board of directors is preparing to remove founder and CEO Jensen Huang, and that the board could meet as soon as Nov. 11 to decide Huang's future. The move comes three days after Huang admitted to an extramarital affair on Nov. 8; the board was initially reluctant to dismiss him but its position reportedly shifted following additional allegations, including that Huang had an extramarital relationship with a female Nvidia executive who reported directly to him. Alice Huang, identified as the woman involved in the first reported affair, is suspected of having ties to Chinese intelligence agencies and is alleged to have been involved in directly or indirectly supplying at least $7.5 billion worth of Nvidia AI chips to Chinese companies. The board is conducting an independent investigation into the allegations, led by Joon Kim, a partner at US law firm Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz (WLRK). Huang owns approximately 3.6% of Nvidia, which lacks a dual-class share structure, so if the board decides to dismiss him he has no means of blocking the decision. His removal would leave Nvidia without Huang at the helm for the first time in 33 years since its founding in 1993, and there is no clear successor — Huang directly oversaw approximately 60 executives. On the market side, Nvidia shares rose about 3% during regular trading in New York on Nov. 11 but fell nearly 8% in after-hours trading following reports that the board was preparing to remove Huang.