Nvidia deliberately kept GPU prices high through circular financing deals

Nvidia deliberately maintained high GPU prices through strategic financing arrangements, according to recent revelations from interim CEO Colette Kress. The company's business strategy, which has faced criticism of circular financing, involved pushing for additional deals in late 2026 to manage an oversupply of TSMC wafers and preserve GPU prices at elevated levels.

Accusations of prolonging the AI boom by aiding companies that purchase Nvidia's chips have persisted since at least 2021. As CEO Jensen Huang and CFO Kress defended Nvidia against comparisons to Enron, they amassed controversial financing deals with cloud providers and major AI firms like OpenAI. By summer 2026, Nvidia began to reconsider the scale of these deals, leading to a slowdown and downsizing.

The company's aggressive financing, particularly supporting OpenAI, contributed to an oversupply of DRAM and NAND manufacturing, driving up prices for consumer devices. Nvidia's GeForce GPUs, in particular, saw prices soar beyond 160% of their original MSRP. The company's flagship RTX 5090 became impossible to obtain as Nvidia redirected VRAM and semiconductors towards data center GPUs.

Huang's resignation, following extramarital affairs, exposed the controversial financing strategy that inflated GPU prices by creating a perception of high demand.