Jensen Huang built Nvidia into a nearly four-trillion-dollar backbone of the modern artificial intelligence industry before a series of scandals forced his departure, leaving the world’s most valuable tech company searching for a successor while its market value takes a hit.
The departure of the 63-year-old cofounder, reported by Al Jazeera, has wiped hundreds of billions of dollars from the chipmaker’s market value and dragged down both the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq. Nvidia controls nearly ninety percent of the market for advanced artificial intelligence chips, making its hardware essential for technology giants like Microsoft, Google, Amazon, and Meta as they build massive data centers.
American intelligence agencies suspected that Alice Huang—a Chinese executive and businesswoman linked to the Singapore-based AI infrastructure firm Megaspeed International—had been recruited by the Ministry of State Security of China to extract details from the chief executive of Nvidia, an issue that sparked the controversy on October 29 according to a report by The New York Times.
The newspaper reported that the two were involved in an intimate relationship, which the Nvidia cofounder later confirmed in an internal memo.
“I was unfaithful to my wife. My actions hurt her and our children. There is no excuse for what I did. I am deeply sorry,” Huang wrote in an internal memo to Nvidia staff, as cited by Al Jazeera.
Beyond personal conduct, business ties between the entities drew intense scrutiny. Megaspeed purchased more than $4.8bn of Nvidia chips over roughly two years, while The Information reported that Alice Huang facilitated at least $7.5bn in Nvidia chip shipments to Chinese firms, which may violate US export controls.
Jensen Huang Leaves Nvidia Following Allegations of Multiple Affairs
A second reported affair involving Jensen Huang and Kimberly Powell, Nvidia’s vice president of healthcare who answered directly to him, was made public by The New York Times on Wednesday, escalating the crisis further.
The following day, Huang was forced out of the company and off its board. Citing two individuals with knowledge of the situation, Reuters reported hours afterward that Huang had allegedly partaken in a third affair involving another employee at Nvidia.
Chief Financial Officer Colette Kress has temporarily stepped into the top job at Nvidia while the board searches for a permanent successor. President Donald Trump, who defended Huang as a “genius,” suggested during public remarks that former Apple chief executive Tim Cook could take over the chipmaker.
“Jensen has obviously been a singular force in many ways so the impact will likely be felt far and wide,” UBS analyst Timothy Arcuri told Reuters, noting that the company serves as a vital financial pillar for a broad array of AI industry participants, neo-clouds, and large language model developers.
Nvidia Shares Rise as Tech Markets Face Pressure
Nvidia shares rose 1.8 percent in premarket trading on Friday after losing around eleven percent of their value during a turbulent week, putting the company on course for its longest streak of weekly losses since October 2012. The wider technology sector, which accounts for roughly forty percent of stock market valuations in the United States, absorbed immediate pressure as Nasdaq futures and S&P 500 futures fell.
Shares in South Korea’s Naver fell more than five percent, while investors in China sold shares in AI-linked companies amid fears that the upheaval at Nvidia could deepen the technological divide between Beijing and Washington. Shares in Z.AI tumbled more than ten percent in Hong Kong, and rival MiniMax hit record lows.
At the same time, a Reuters review identified more than $3bn in Chinese computing projects built around Nvidia’s restricted processors, demonstrating how deeply the chipmaker’s hardware remains embedded in China’s technology expansion despite strict export controls. A Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson said that Beijing has “always opposed the abuse of export control measures” and rejected allegations that Alice Huang is a Chinese spy as baseless.
| Indicator | Value | Context |
|---|---|---|
| Market Valuation | Nearly $4 Trillion | Critical pillar of the US economy and modern AI infrastructure |
| Market Share | Nearly 90 Percent | Control of advanced AI chips used to train frontier models |
| Megaspeed Purchases | More than $4.8bn | Chip orders placed over roughly a two-year period |
| Facilitated Shipments | At least $7.5bn | Nvidia chip shipments to Chinese firms reported by The Information |
Trump Meets Xi Jinping While Nvidia Searches for Leadership
Nvidia’s board continues its search for a permanent leader from both internal and external candidates. In its annual review published earlier this year, the company explicitly highlighted its heavy reliance on key personnel as a primary corporate risk factor.
“Failure to ensure effective succession planning, transfer of knowledge, and smooth transitions involving executives and key employees could hinder our strategic planning, execution, and long-term success,” the company said in its annual review.
