Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang Steps Down Amid Scandal
Nvidia co-founder Jensen Huang stepped down as chief executive of the AI giant on Thursday, following revelations of extramarital affairs including one with a woman accused of espionage for China. The company’s chief financial officer, Colette Kress, will serve as interim CEO while the board searches for a permanent successor, the firm announced late on Thursday Asia time.
Board leadership shifts
The announcement, which also saw Huang give up his board seat, ends a 33-year run at the helm of the global tech company. Huang, 63, remains the firm’s largest individual shareholder with a stake of about 3.6 percent, though this holding carries no special voting rights.
Harvey Jones, a former head of chip design software firm Synopsys, was appointed as the new board chair. In a statement, Jones expressed confidence in Kress and the existing leadership team, stating the company’s operations, customer commitments, and product roadmap would continue without interruption.
Investors reacted swiftly to the news, sending Nvidia shares down as much as 13 percent in early trading on Wall Street. The stock has lost approximately $800 billion in market value since the weekend.
Huang has been a central figure in the AI boom, helping drive demand for the processors that power generative models like those developed by OpenAI. The chip maker designs advanced components originally created for video game graphics, called Graphics Processing Units (GPUs), and relies on Taiwan’s TSMC for manufacturing.
Former Apple CEO Steve Jobs was pushed out of Apple in 1985 and returned 12 years later to lead the company to new heights. Many in Silicon Valley have drawn parallels to that departure as the tech industry faces its first major leadership crisis in the generative AI era.
US intelligence reportedly circulated a memo this spring alleging Alice Huang was an asset of China’s Ministry of State Security. Beijing has rejected those claims, with foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning stating that China’s technological progress is driven by independent innovation and that the US should stop fabricating “spy” narratives as a pretext for imposing a technological blockade.
Alice Huang attended a dinner hosted by Jensen Huang at a Chinese restaurant in Taipei during Computex on May 22, 2025, according to press reports. Video from the event shows Huang putting his arm around Alice Huang as she kisses him on the right cheek.
Code of conduct
The chip giant’s code of conduct tells associates to avoid conflicts of interest. It cites the example of “personal relationships” as a potential issue. The company policy states that associates should avoid situations where actions might create a conflict between personal gain and obligations to Nvidia.
Nvidia’s bylaws require a majority of the 11 board directors to remove the CEO. However, Huang would retain his board seat, which could only be taken away by shareholders. Huang has repeatedly avoided naming a successor when the question is brought up.
The New York Times earlier reported that the tech CEO has been called on by Congress to provide a closed-door briefing on his interactions with Alice Huang. As the artificial intelligence industry surge has spurred Nvidia’s stock prices to new heights, Huang has appeared at US President Donald Trump’s side at White House events.
He was recently seen accepting a National Medal of Science from the Republican leader. Huang was among the world’s most influential tech leaders who vowed to self-regulate AI against possible threats. This group included Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos and Mark Zuckerberg.
Shareholder action
As Trump rejected calls for government oversight, the tech leaders dismissed warnings that the technology could wipe out humanity. Nvidia shareholders filed a class action lawsuit against Huang and the AI chip maker. The suit alleges they failed to disclose information about the relationship to investors.
Founded in 1993, Nvidia designs advanced components originally created to handle 3D visuals in video games. Nvidia’s processors are mostly made by the Taiwanese company TSMC, which is the world’s largest contract manufacturer of chips.
Nvidia is scheduled to release its quarterly results on November 17.
