Tech and AI
Jensen Huang is out as Nvidia chief after reports of two affairs, one with a woman suspected of spying for China
- What happened
- Jensen Huang has resigned as chief executive of Nvidia with immediate effect, The Verge reports, citing a company press release.
- Why it matters
- He co-founded the chipmaker in 1993 and ran it for 33 years, and outlets report that it has no clear succession plan.
- What’s next
- Finance chief Colette Kress steps in on an interim basis, according to The Verge, while an independent investigation continues.
How this story developed
- 09:43First report
- 13:282nd source
- 13:28Confirmed
- 13:30+2 outlets in 51 min
- 14:435th source
- 16:536th source
- 09:43First reportThe Guardian World
- 13:282nd sourceFrance 24
- 13:28ConfirmedWas: Single source
- 13:30+2 outlets in 51 minSouth China Morning Post and BBC News World
- 14:435th sourceAl Jazeera English
- 16:53Latest6th sourceThe Verge
Full story
The resignation
Jensen Huang, who co-founded Nvidia in 1993 and has run it ever since, is no longer its chief executive. The Verge reported on Thursday that the board had ousted him and that a company press release announced his resignation, effective immediately, with chief financial officer Colette Kress appointed on an interim basis.
The decision followed a board meeting on Wednesday night, US time. The Wall Street Journal had reported that the board was preparing to remove him, and Reuters, citing a person familiar with the matter, said the directors met to decide whether to do so, according to Euronews Türkçe.
How it got here
The crisis began with reports that Huang had been the target of a foreign intelligence operation. On Sunday he admitted in a message to Nvidia staff that he had been unfaithful to his wife, in a relationship with Alice Huang, a senior executive at the Singapore-based data centre company Megaspeed. The two are not related, the Guardian notes. According to the reports, US intelligence agencies circulated a note last spring alleging that she works for China’s Ministry of State Security.
The same day, the board announced an independent investigation. Webrazzi reported that it is being run by the law firm Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz under former federal prosecutor Joon H. Kim, and that Huang was expected to cooperate.
On Wednesday the New York Times, citing five people who had worked at Nvidia, reported a second relationship, with Kimberly Powell, the company’s vice-president for healthcare. Powell reported directly to Huang, which turned a private matter into a question of corporate governance.
Markets and succession
Nvidia shares fell 8.6% in after-hours trading on Wednesday and European chip stocks slipped on Thursday morning, with ASML down 1.9%, Euronews Türkçe reported. According to Webrazzi, the shares have lost about 11% in five days, and Reuters estimated that the after-hours fall could wipe about $600 billion off a company valued at roughly $4 trillion.
The Guardian pointed out that Huang does not hold the special voting rights common among tech founders; his stake is 3.6%. France 24 and the BBC both focused on what the scandal exposed: the lack of a clear successor at the company at the centre of the AI boom.
China has rejected the spying claims. According to France 24 and Al Jazeera, Beijing accused the United States of fabricating them to push a technology “blockade”.