If Jensen Huang exits Nvidia, who could take the US$4tr chipmaker’s reins?

Nvidia co-founder Jensen Huang is facing potential removal by the company's board of directors following reports of extramarital affairs. According to Business Insider, a New York Times report cited five company sources alleging an affair between Huang and Kimberly Powell, Nvidia’s vice president of healthcare. This follows a previous report concerning an affair with Alice Huang, an executive for Nvidia customer Megaspeed.

9to5Mac reports that while Nvidia initially denied any unusual nature regarding the first relationship, Huang publicly admitted to the affair on November 8.

The situation has led to an internal investigation and potential congressional probe, according to SCMP Tech and SCMP Business. 9to5Mac states that Nvidia's shares dropped 5% following Huang's admission. Business Insider notes that The Wall Street Journal reported the board is preparing to remove Huang. While Apple’s chief hardware officer Johny Srouji has been mentioned as a potential replacement, 9to5Mac suggests this remains unlikely.

Nvidia's board of directors, which includes members such as attorney Stephen Neal, VC Tench Coxe, and academic John Dabiri, has met to discuss the CEO's future, according to Techmeme. Business Insider reports that sentiment regarding Huang's tenure has shifted significantly, with prediction markets previously placing the odds of him leaving before the end of 2026 below 20%.

Brief written by urgent.news from SCMP Tech, SCMP Business, Business Insider, 9to5Mac, Techmeme — 5 reports on this story. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.