Nvidia co-founder and longtime chief executive Jensen Huang resigned Thursday as president, CEO, and board member, effective immediately, the company announced, ending a 33-year tenure that transformed the firm into the central supplier of chips powering the global artificial-intelligence boom.
Chief Financial Officer Colette Kress was named interim CEO while the board searches for a permanent replacement.
The abrupt departure follows days of melodrama over Huang’s admitted affairs — two have been acknowledged by Huang, so you know there are more out there — and the fact that his most recent paramour has all the appearances of being a ChiCom intelligence officer in addition to running a front company designed to bust U.S. restrictions on China’s access to Nvidia chips. This has cost Nvidia about 30% of its stock value, or about $1 trillion- yes, that was with a “t”- since the affair broke on October 29.
The cascade of events leading to Huang’s resignation began with a New York Times story on October 29 reporting that Huang’s girlfriend, Alice Huang (no relation) was a Chinese intelligence agent; see Reports Show Chinese Spy Agency Recruited Woman Close to Nvidia's CEO – RedState and Jensen Huang Admits Affair As Nvidia Opens China Spy Probe – RedState.
Ms. Huang was an executive at Singapore-based Megaspeed, a major Nvidia customer that U.S. authorities have investigated for suspected diversion of advanced chips toward China. A recent New York Times investigation found that Megaspeed had no offices, facilities, or apparent employees despite accounting for between 10 and 15 percent of Nvidia’s revenue. It ran from leased space inside an accounting firm that specialized in managing shell corporations.
A second reported relationship involved Kimberly Powell, Nvidia’s vice president of healthcare, who reported to Huang; see Nvidia's Jensen Huang Has Another Alleged Affair to Explain, and This One Hits Close to Home – RedState.
The board retained outside counsel and initiated an investigation; Huang said he would cooperate fully and emphasized his commitment to U.S. national security. President Trump publicly defended Huang’s past contributions while noting the CEO’s claim that he was unaware of any espionage links.
The episode has already spilled into Washington and raised questions about Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick. According to reporting by Axios and others, Lutnick received a highly classified memo, prepared under Secretary of State Marco Rubio, warning of the relationship with Alice Huang and of Megaspeed’s activities; Marco Rubio Warned Officials on Nvidia CEO’s Chinese Spy Ties – RedState. Senior officials, including Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, have pressed Lutnick’s department to place Megaspeed on the entity list and implement those controls; Bessent reportedly confronted Lutnick directly in a Situation Room meeting last week. Sources described resistance from Commerce, with Lutnick at one point indicating he needed to check further with the president; see Commerce Paused Its Nvidia Chip Probe. Did the Chips Make It to China? – RedState.
Nvidia is about 6 percent of the S&P 500 index and its stock price affects 401k plans across America. Under Huang, Nvidia carved out a dominant role in manufacturing the high-end chips needed for AI applications. So Nvidia's fate matters economically to the U.S.
How much of that was a function of Huang remains to be seen. As one of my bosses used to say, “The graveyard if full of indispensable men.” I suspect Nvidia will find a perfectly qualified H1B to run the place (did I say that?) and lumber forward.
The real issue is the nascent scandal brewing around Nvidia’s favored treatment by the Department of Commerce and the failure, one might say the reluctance, of that department to act on a high-level intelligence warning about the connection between the Chinese intelligence apparatus and Megaspeed and Alice Huang.