Key points
- Nvidia's board is preparing to oust Jensen Huang, WSJ reports
- Nvidia's directors are working with an outside firm to find CEO candidates, Bloomberg reports
- Nvidia shares fell 8.6% after hours
Nvidia's (NVDA) board is preparing to oust chief executive Jensen Huang after he had two extramarital affairs, including one with a suspected Chinese spy and another with an employee, The Wall Street Journal reported on Nov. 11, and the board planned to meet as soon as that day to decide his future.
Nvidia shares fell 8.6% to $158.84 in after-hours trading as of 7:58 p.m. ET, from the day's close of $173.73. At that after-hours price, the company's market value would be about $359 billion below its value at the close.
The board is considering an interim CEO
Nvidia's board has been working with an outside firm to identify possible replacements for Huang, Bloomberg reported. Directors are also considering whether to appoint an interim CEO while they search for a permanent one.
Huang has led Nvidia since he co-founded it in 1993, and there's no clear successor. Nvidia didn't immediately respond to requests for comment and hasn't announced a decision.
Huang reportedly had a relationship with an executive who reports to him
Huang reportedly had an extramarital relationship with Kimberly Powell, Nvidia's vice president of health care, who reports to him, The New York Times reported. Both are married to other people. Nvidia's code of conduct tells employees to "avoid situations where our actions create conflict," including personal relationships.
The other relationship was with Alice Huang, a former senior executive at Singapore-based Megaspeed, one of Nvidia's biggest customers in Southeast Asia. US officials concluded she was gathering intelligence for Beijing, the newspaper reported. Huang acknowledged an affair on Nov. 8, and the board opened an independent investigation the same day. The directors then hired Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz to run it. China has denied the espionage claims.
Nvidia's next dates are Nov. 17 and Nov. 18
Nvidia reports fiscal third-quarter results on Nov. 17. Three House Republican committee chairmen have asked Huang to brief them behind closed doors on Nov. 18, the day after earnings.
We're tracking each development on our Jensen Huang scandal timeline.
Market value multiplies the share price by the 24.1 billion shares on the cover of Nvidia's latest quarterly filing with the SEC.
