Nvidia board met to consider removing CEO Jensen Huang amid affair allegations

Nvidia’s board of directors met late Wednesday (November 11, 2026) to discuss removing co-founder and CEO Jensen Huang from his position, according to Reuters and The Wall Street Journal. The decision from the meeting has not been publicly announced as of Thursday morning Nepali time.The Wall Street Journal’s report led to an almost 8% drop in Nvidia’s share price in after-hours trading on November 11, 2026, closing at $159.51. Nvidia’s market capitalization was approximately $4.07 trillion as of November 12, 2026.The board’s consideration follows reports of Huang’s extramarital affairs. The New York Times reported on November 11, 2026, that Huang had an affair with Kimberly Powell, Nvidia’s Vice President of Healthcare Business, who reports directly to him. Previously, Huang had been linked to Alice Huang, a former executive at Singapore-based data center company Megaspeed, which purchases Nvidia chips.US intelligence officials suspect Alice Huang of collecting information for China. China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has dismissed these espionage allegations as baseless. The US Department of Justice is investigating whether Megaspeed violated US export regulations by sending Nvidia chips to China. Megaspeed has denied these allegations.In a letter to the company on November 8, 2026, Jensen Huang apologized, stating he had been unfaithful to his wife. On the same day, Nvidia’s board announced an independent investigation into whether Huang had been targeted by foreign intelligence agencies. At that time, the board expressed confidence in Huang and his leadership team, stating there was no basis to believe US national security was compromised or company secrets were leaked. On Tuesday (November 10, 2026), independent directors appointed an external legal team, Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, to conduct the investigation.Three US House of Representatives committee chairs have requested Huang to provide information in a closed session regarding his contact with Alice Huang and the company’s security protocols.Jensen Huang, 63, born in Taiwan, co-founded Nvidia in 1993 with two engineers. He has served as CEO since the company’s inception. Nvidia’s graphics processing units (GPUs), initially used for realistic video game graphics, later became crucial for training and operating AI systems like ChatGPT, making Nvidia a leading supplier of AI chips.Nvidia reported total revenue of $57.0 billion for the third quarter of fiscal year 2026, with $51.2 billion from its data center business, both reported on August 26, 2026. The company projected $65.0 billion in revenue for the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2026.Huang owns approximately 3.4% of Nvidia’s shares. His estimated net worth was $155 billion as of November 9, 2026, down from a peak of $195 billion in October 2026.If Huang is removed, eight senior company officials and co-founders are being discussed as potential successors, including Jay Puri, Colette Kress, Ian Buck, Chris Malachowsky, Bill Dally, Nick Parker, Deborah Shoquist, and Bryan Catanzaro.Speculation has also arisen about a potential divorce between Huang and his wife, Lori Huang, whom he married in 1985. If a divorce occurs, Lori could receive an estimated $80 billion, which would be one of the largest divorce settlements in history. Lori Huang has not publicly commented on the divorce rumors.