Nvidia’s directors met on Wednesday to consider removing chief executive Jensen Huang, according to multiple reports cited by the Guardian, as scrutiny of his personal relationships intensified. The reported discussions followed his admission of an affair and the launch of an investigation into allegations that he had been targeted by a foreign intelligence operation.
The board had publicly supported Huang and his management team on Sunday. Pressure increased on Wednesday when the New York Times reported an alleged separate affair with Kimberly Powell, identified as Nvidia’s president of healthcare. According to that report, video showed Powell and Huang behaving affectionately at a hotel during a company conference in March.
Nvidia shares fell more than 8% in after-hours trading after the Wall Street Journal reported that the company was preparing to dismiss Huang. If sustained, the decline would bring the loss in Nvidia’s market value to roughly $685bn since the board announced its investigation into his relationship with businesswoman Alice Huang, who is accused of being a Chinese spy. Minotaur Capital portfolio manager Armina Rosenberg, whose firm owns Nvidia shares, said investors were increasingly treating the founder’s departure as the probable outcome.
The independent directors appointed Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz this week to investigate the relationship. The law firm instructed Huang to remain in charge while its inquiry continued. Nvidia’s rules allow a majority of directors to remove him regardless of whether cause is established. The company has 11 directors, with everyone except Huang considered independent.
A departure would raise succession questions at the chipmaker Huang co-founded in 1993. There is no clear replacement, and his management structure gives him dozens of direct reports. Nvidia supplies advanced chips used to train artificial intelligence models, with companies including OpenAI, Anthropic and Google relying on its technology. Its market value exceeds $4tn, while Huang holds more than 870m shares, representing approximately 3.6% of the business.
Alice Huang is an executive at Megaspeed, a Singapore-based datacentre company that uses Nvidia chips. She and Jensen Huang had been seen dining and attending meetings together internationally over several years. According to Donald Trump, the Nvidia chief acknowledged an affair without directly naming her and denied knowing that the woman allegedly worked for China’s government.
On Thursday, Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council minister, Chiu Chui-cheng, said Alice Huang had travelled to Taiwan eight times during 2024 and 2025. He was responding to questions about a New York Times report alleging that US authorities had advised Taiwan to track her movements as early as 2024. Chiu said officials had identified no particular concerns at the time and would have subjected her to greater scrutiny if they had received critical intelligence.
Huang, who has been married to Lori since 1985, acknowledged an affair in a Sunday email to employees and pledged cooperation with the internal inquiry. Trump has defended his leadership and character, while Elon Musk has also expressed support. Asked on X early Thursday whether he would employ Huang if he lost his job, Musk replied: “That would be an honour”.
Separately, Democratic senators Elizabeth Warren and Chris Coons asked the Trump administration to retain documents concerning Nvidia’s chip exports to China. Their letter, disclosed late Wednesday, raised concerns about export enforcement and national security and was addressed to Howard Lutnick, Marco Rubio and Stephen Miller. Nvidia did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
