Jensen Huang, the chief executive of Nvidia, has resigned from the chipmaker after 33 years in charge, in one of the most dramatic leadership changes in the technology industry in years.
Nvidia announced on Thursday 12 November that Huang had stepped down as chief executive, president and a member of the board, with immediate effect. The company gave no reason for his departure.
Huang, 63, co-founded Nvidia in 1993 and built it from a small graphics chip firm into the company at the centre of the global artificial intelligence boom. His exit leaves investors asking who can fill the shoes of one of the most famous chief executives in tech.
Why did Huang step down?
Huang’s resignation followed days of intense reporting about his private life. Reports said he had two extramarital affairs, including one with a Chinese businesswoman whom US intelligence officials suspect of spying for China. Huang later admitted to his wife and to staff that he had been unfaithful, and he apologised to his family and to Nvidia employees.
On 8 November, Nvidia said its board had started an independent investigation, helped by outside lawyers, into whether Huang had been the target of a foreign intelligence operation. The claims about the woman’s alleged links to Chinese intelligence have not been independently established.
The Wall Street Journal reported on 11 November that Nvidia’s directors were preparing to remove Huang. Shares fell about 8 per cent in after-hours trading that evening.
What happens next at Nvidia?
Nvidia has named its chief financial officer, Colette Kress, as interim chief executive while the board searches for a permanent replacement. The board said it would consider both internal and external candidates.
Kress joined Nvidia in 2013 after nearly 25 years at companies including Cisco and Microsoft. The board also named Harvey Jones, a former chief executive of chip design firm Synopsys, as chair, and said it expected the company’s operations and product roadmap to continue without interruption.
US President Donald Trump has suggested former Apple chief executive Tim Cook as a possible successor. Nvidia’s next big test comes on 17 November, when the company reports its third-quarter results, an event investors will now watch even more closely.
Shares fall as investors weigh the future
Nvidia shares fell by more than 13 per cent after the news broke on 12 November, before recovering some ground to close about 4 to 5 per cent lower. Around $450 billion has been wiped off the company’s value since the weekend, according to reports.
The wider market had a mixed end to the week. On Friday 13 November, the Dow Jones rose 0.1 per cent to 52,347.55, while the S&P 500 fell 0.4 per cent to 7,561.67 and the Nasdaq dropped 0.9 per cent to 25,136.27. Even so, all three indexes ended the week higher, the Nasdaq up 2.3 per cent, the S&P 500 up 2.5 per cent and the Dow up 2.1 per cent, their best week since early August.
For more on how Nvidia’s slide hit the market, read Nasdaq Falls 0.9% as Nvidia Slide Hits US Stocks.
Huang owns about 3.6 per cent of Nvidia’s stock, making him one of its largest shareholders. For now, investors must wait to see whether Kress can steady the company, and who the board picks to lead it for the long term.
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