Jensen Huang fired as NVIDIA CEO after 33 years
NVIDIA co-founder and longtime leader Jensen Huang, who had headed the company for all 33 years since its founding, stepped down as CEO on November 12.
The semiconductor giant’s board announced his departure amid a high-profile scandal involving the executive’s personal life. Huang also stepped down as president and left the board of directors. His resignation from all three positions took effect immediately.
In a March 2023 interview with CNBC, Huang said he could lead NVIDIA for another 30-40 years as long as he felt he was benefiting the company. He joked that in four decades he would become a robot and might work as CEO for another 30-40 years.
Reports of two affairs and espionage suspicions
The crisis surrounding the CEO erupted after a series of reports in U.S. business publications. On November 8, Huang admitted in a letter to employees that he had been unfaithful to his wife of more than forty years and pledged to cooperate with an independent investigation.
The first person implicated in the scandal was businesswoman Alice Huang, who previously held a senior position at Singapore-based Megaspeed. According to The New York Times, U.S. intelligence agencies suspected her of passing information to Beijing. Beijing categorically rejected the accusations, calling them baseless.
The situation escalated sharply on November 11, when The New York Times reported an alleged second extramarital affair involving the head of NVIDIA—this time with Kimberly Powell, the company’s vice president of healthcare, who, according to the newspaper, reported directly to him. NVIDIA’s corporate code of ethics identifies personal relationships as a potential source of conflicts of interest and advises employees to consult the legal department when such a conflict may arise.
Board’s response and stock decline
For the independent investigation, board members brought in the law firm Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz and its partner Jun H. Kim, a former acting U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York. On November 8, the board said it had no reason to believe that NVIDIA secrets had been leaked or that U.S. national security had been harmed. In its announcement of the leadership change, NVIDIA did not give a reason for the departure or report the investigation’s findings.
Political pressure also intensified. The chairs of three U.S. House committees invited Huang to testify at a closed-door briefing on November 18. Investors reacted to the uncertainty with a sharp sell-off. After the regular session closed on November 11, NVIDIA shares fell 8.6%, knocking hundreds of billions of dollars off the company’s market capitalization. Following the resignation announcement, shares traded about 10% below the previous regular-session close in premarket trading on November 12.
Colette Kress was appointed interim CEO while retaining her roles as executive vice president and chief financial officer. The board began searching for a permanent leader among NVIDIA employees and external candidates. Harvey Jones became the first chairman of the board in the company’s history.
Elon Musk’s response
Even before Huang’s departure was announced, Elon Musk responded to reports that he might leave. On social media platform X, the ZeroHedge account urged the billionaire to hire Jensen Huang. Musk replied that it would be an honor for him.
Musk has made no public offer of employment. Musk and Huang have had a business relationship for more than ten years. NVIDIA graphics processors are used to train Tesla’s driver-assistance systems and robots, as well as in projects by Musk’s company xAI. Musk has also previously said he plans to build his own chip manufacturing capacity.
