Nvidia board reportedly meeting to decide CEO Jensen Huang’s future as chip giant’s share price plunges – follow live

Nvidia’s board is meeting to decide whether to oust CEO Jensen Huang, a source familiar with the matter told the Reuters news agency, as the world’s dominant supplier of AI processors grapples with reports of two extramarital affairs involving its longtime ⁠leader.

The reports mark a sharp escalation in a controversy that began with revelations about Huang’s relationship with Alice Huang, a woman US intelligence has said was involved in facilitating shipments of Nvidia chips to Chinese firms.

In a memo to employees on Sunday, Huang acknowledged being unfaithful to his wife and took “full responsibility,” but gave no details about the relationship.

Huang, 63, has ⁠no obvious successor and owns about 3.6% of Nvidia’s stock. He also has dozens of direct reports, underscoring the tight control he maintains over the company.

The company’s shares slid about 8% in ​after-hours trading after the Wall Street Journal first reported that Nvidia was preparing to oust Huang. ‌Including Wednesday’s after-hours selloff, Nvidia has lost about $600bn ‌in stock market value this week since the board announced its investigation into his relationship with a Chinese businesswoman.

Earlier in the day, the New York Times reported that Huang had also had ‌an extramarital affair with a company executive who reported to him.

Nvidia’s shares plunged in ⁠after-hours trading on news that its board may oust longtime CEO Jensen Huang, with the chipmaker losing about $600bn ‌in stock market value this week since the board announced its investigation into his relationship with a Chinese businesswoman.

Shares in Nvidia slid more than 8% after close of trade.

Strategists said investors were still digesting the implications of the midterm ‌elections, which resulted in Democrats taking control of Congress, but also now, the news surrounding Nvidia.

Jensen Huang “was the one who led the marvelous rise of Nvidia,” said Bruce Zaro, managing director at Granite Wealth Management in Plymouth, Massachusetts. “I guess the question would be, can someone step up if Jensen has to resign or is forced out?“

“It looks bad from every single ⁠angle,” said Jake Dollarhide, chief executive officer at Longbow Asset Management in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

“I believe the board ​won’t oust him until they have an all-star, ‌a known entity in ‌the tech sector, to replace him,” said Jake Dollarhide, chief executive officer at Longbow Asset Management in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

At the end of the day, let’s not forget ‌that the Nvidia chip is the centrepiece of the AI story.“

Analysts have suggested that with no obvious successor, the Nvidia board has a difficult decision to make on whether to remove Jensen Huang as CEO.

“Huang being removed immediately could be challenging for Nvidia since it does not have a succession plan in place,” Gil Luria, head of technology research at DA Davidson, said.

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

Investors and analysts said while demand for Nvidia’s chips would be unlikely to drop in ​the near term, the broader universe of companies backed by the company might suffer.

“Nvidia is also at the centre of the circular financing which is providing capital to the investment boom,” said Nick Ferres, chief investment officer at Vantage Point Asset Management in Singapore.

They are financing their customers. In these types of booms or bubbles, sometimes all it takes is a slowdown to shift it into the bust phase.”