Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang speaks at CES 2025. Photo: Joseph Zadeh (CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons)
Nvidia co-founder and chief executive Jensen Huang resigned on Thursday, ending a 33-year run at the helm of the chipmaker he built into a roughly $4 trillion giant at the center of the artificial intelligence boom — and plunging the world's most valuable company into sudden uncertainty.
The resignation followed days of mounting pressure after reports that Huang, 63, had an affair with a Chinese businesswoman whom U.S. authorities suspect of spying for Beijing, and a second affair with a senior Nvidia executive who reported directly to him. Nvidia's board met on Wednesday, and the company announced about 42 minutes before the market opened on Thursday that Huang was out as chief executive and would also leave the board.
A stunning fall for the face of the AI boom
Huang co-founded Nvidia in 1993 and turned it from a graphics-chip maker into the company whose processors power nearly all of the world's most advanced AI systems. His hands-on style became legend in Silicon Valley: he oversaw some 60 direct reports, personally dove into engineering problems and used Nvidia's swelling cash pile to bankroll the AI startups that became its customers.
That empire unraveled in days. First came reports that Huang had an affair with a Chinese businesswoman identified by U.S. authorities as a suspected spy for Beijing. Nvidia's board launched an investigation, and Huang admitted to an extramarital affair in a statement on November 8, without naming the person involved.
The crisis deepened on Wednesday, when the New York Times reported that Huang had also had an affair with an employee who directly reported to him. Reuters later identified that executive as Kimberly Powell, Nvidia's vice president of health care, and reported on Friday that Huang had a relationship with a second employee as well. Nvidia declined to comment on that report.
Markets react — and Washington moves in
Investors reacted swiftly. Nvidia shares fell more than 10 percent in premarket trading on Thursday and weighed on the broader market, extending a slide that has erased hundreds of billions of dollars from the company's market value since last Friday.
Washington moved just as fast. Senate Banking Committee Chairman Tim Scott sent letters on Thursday to Huang and to Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, asking both to testify before the committee over recent developments at the company. "Recent reports raise serious concerns about our national security and the protection of sensitive US technology," Scott wrote.
Lawmakers from both parties are now pushing for tougher restrictions on China's access to advanced AI chips, and House Speaker Mike Johnson said on Thursday that a growing consensus in Congress favors new export curbs. Nvidia's advanced chips are widely used to develop cutting-edge AI models, making the company central to the U.S. race against China to build superior AI systems.
President Donald Trump weighed in on Thursday, saying former Apple chief executive Tim Cook should replace Huang. "NOW THAT Nvidia CEO JENSEN HUANG, who has done a fantastic job, has resigned, there is only one man to take his place — TIM COOK of Apple," Trump wrote. The New York Times also reported that Trump had called Huang on Tuesday and urged him to fight for his job.
What happens next at Nvidia
Nvidia has named chief financial officer Colette Kress as interim chief executive while it searches for a permanent successor, considering both internal and external candidates. Along with Kress, Ian Buck, who leads product for hyperscale AI, and Arm chief Rene Haas are seen as potential candidates. The company also named former Synopsys chief executive and board member Harvey Jones as its first-ever board chairman.
Huang, who is Nvidia's fourth-largest investor with a stake of about 3.61 percent, will not remain on the board.
The exit raises immediate questions about whether Nvidia — and the AI ecosystem Huang helped bankroll — can thrive without the leader who defined it. For a company that has become a proxy for the entire AI trade, the answer will move markets far beyond a single stock.
Sources: Reuters, The New York Times.