Nvidia's Board Is Preparing to Oust CEO Jensen Huang, Sources Say

Nvidia's board of directors is preparing to remove longtime chief executive Jensen Huang, according to a report from The Wall Street Journal that sent the chipmaker's stock sharply lower after the close of trading Wednesday. Nvidia shares fell more than 8%, to $159.51, in after-hours trading. The Trump administration is aware of the board's plans, sources told CBS News.

The move would cap a rapid collapse in the company's standing. Nvidia's market value has sunk by more than $450 billion since the company announced on Nov. 8 that it had opened an investigation into Huang's conduct. Huang co-founded Nvidia in 1993 and is seen in many circles as the face of the artificial intelligence boom, since the company's advanced chips supply the computing power behind the most capable AI models.

The investigation centers on Huang's relationship with Alice Huang, who is no relation to him. U.S. intelligence agencies have linked the CEO to the Chinese business executive, who is suspected of being an asset of China's Ministry of State Security. Alice Huang was a senior executive at Megaspeed International, a Singapore-based company that has been one of Nvidia's largest foreign customers, buying nearly $5 billion in AI chips and other advanced hardware. President Trump said this week that the FBI is also investigating the romantic and business ties between the two.

In a message to employees on Sunday, Huang admitted to having an extramarital affair. "There is no excuse for what I did. I am deeply sorry," he wrote, apologizing to his wife and their two children, both of whom also work at Nvidia. Corporate governance experts said the alleged relationship appears to violate Nvidia's code of conduct, which warns that personal relationships can create a conflict of interest. The code also tells employees to ask whether they could defend an action if it became public on social media or known to colleagues, and if not, to "not proceed."

Nvidia's board has 11 members, including Huang. The other directors are designated as independent, according to a regulatory filing. Wall Street analysts say the company has no obvious successor to step into Huang's role. "The news is obviously negative, as Jensen is (arguably) the most prominent executive at the most prominent company sitting at the center of the world's most important industry," Adam Crisafulli of Vital Knowledge said in a report. He added that Huang foresaw the rise of AI years before ChatGPT arrived and made sure Nvidia was prepared to profit from it.

The turmoil is also drawing attention in Washington. Lawmakers are expected to question Nvidia executives about whether the company's chips are being funneled to China through other countries. Megaspeed's purchases, which total close to $5 billion, are likely to be a focus of those questions, given the intelligence agencies' concerns about Alice Huang's alleged ties to Chinese state security.

Nvidia has not publicly commented on the report of the board's plans. The company announced its investigation on Nov. 8, and the stock has fallen steadily since. A decision by the board to remove Huang would end three decades of leadership by the executive who built the company into one of the most valuable businesses in the world.