Nvidia shares dropped 8.6 percent in after-hours trading on Wednesday following reports that its board would consider the future of chief executive Jensen Huang. The decline put the leadership of the $4.2 trillion chipmaker under scrutiny, with analysts highlighting how closely the company’s operations and identity are tied to its co-founder.
The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and the Financial Times reported that directors would discuss Huang’s position following revelations of an extramarital relationship with an Nvidia employee and a separate affair with a woman accused of working with Chinese intelligence services. Nvidia began investigating Huang’s conduct on Sunday and did not immediately answer requests for comment from Al Jazeera.
Huang, 63, helped establish Nvidia in 1993 and has become a prominent figure in the artificial intelligence industry. He has led its development of advanced graphics processing units used to train and operate frontier AI models. His leadership is widely regarded as central to the company’s rapid growth into one of the world’s most valuable businesses.
That role has also drawn him into the competition between the United States and China for leadership in AI. A confidante of US President Donald Trump, Huang has pushed for looser restrictions on exports of advanced chips to China. His position has clashed with that of national security hawks in Washington, who argue that Beijing should be denied access to cutting-edge American technology.
A decision to remove Huang would represent a major upheaval for Nvidia. His centralised management approach gives him a direct role in both daily operations and strategic choices. Whether the company has a succession plan remains unclear, and analysts identify few apparent contenders to replace him.
Jay Goldberg, a senior analyst with Seaport Research Partners in San Francisco, told Al Jazeera that Nvidia’s organisation had been built around Huang. He described a replacement as difficult for the business structurally and said another leader could not reproduce Huang’s personality or the spirit he brings to the company.
Dan Ives, senior managing director at Yorkville Ives, also stressed Huang’s importance and said investors would examine any potential successor closely. In a client note, he valued Nvidia at $300 a share with Huang leading it, compared with $225 without him.
Ives said the uncertainty would put pressure on the stock, while expressing confidence that Nvidia could withstand the disruption and retain a foundational role in AI. He also suggested the company would likely need to proceed without Huang, although the reported board discussions had left the executive’s future unresolved.
