Nvidia's board is reportedly preparing to remove chief executive Jensen Huang after two alleged extramarital affairs raised concerns at the multi-trillion-dollar company. The departure would end an era in which Huang stoked the global AI boom, but was also marked by scandal over his alleged relationships.
Alleged Affairs and Board Meeting
The 63-year-old AI boss confessed in a memo to staff on Sunday to carrying out an affair with a Chinese entrepreneur, who had been under investigation for allegedly passing information to Beijing. The board was planning to meet as soon as Wednesday to determine his future.
Huang co-founded the chipmaker in April 1993 and oversaw its rise as one of the most valuable companies in the world. He has been praised by US President Donald Trump for his work on "superintelligence".
Employee Relationship and Share Impact
Five people who worked at the chipmaker have told the New York Times that Huang had a relationship with Kimberly Powell, 48, Nvidia's vice president of healthcare. The alleged affair would have violated the company's code of conduct.
After reports broke, Nvidia's shares plunged about eight percent in after-hours trading. The stock has lost more than $300 billion in market value since news of the affair with alleged Chinese spy Alice Huang broke, The Mail reports.
Investigation into Chinese Spy Allegations
Nvidia's board had already launched an investigation into Huang's affair with the alleged Chinese spy, Megaspeed founder Alice Huang. In early 2025, she pitched an AI chips deal to Chinese-based investors, touting her ability to secure Nvidia's graphics processing units and her commercial relationship with Alibaba.
She had sought their investment for a southeast Asia data centre project worth several hundred million dollars, but did not disclose her relationship with Huang. US officials were briefed that she was working for Beijing's Ministry of State Security as part of an effort to learn about American-made AI chips and possibly persuade Nvidia to make its most sophisticated semiconductors available in China, according to The New York Times.
Shareholder Lawsuit
Washington was also investigating Megaspeed over concerns it may have been involved in smuggling hardware to China, prompting the government to ask Nvidia to audit the firm last year. Records obtained by Bloomberg News show that Megaspeed had imported 50,000 more chips than Nvidia found in its data centres. Nvidia pledged in December 2025 to visit Megaspeed's data centres again.
Amid the scandal, both Nvidia and Huang were sued on Monday by shareholders, who accused the defendants of misleading shareholders about the affair before it caused Nvidia shares to dip 4.3 percent by close on Monday, reducing the company's market capitalization by approximately $190 billion.
