Unconfirmed: Nvidia board weighs removing CEO Jensen Huang, reports say

Nvidia's board is weighing whether to remove chief executive Jensen Huang, according to Daily Star, which cited a source familiar with the matter speaking to Reuters. The report is unconfirmed and Nvidia had not announced a decision. The board had earlier announced an independent investigation and expressed confidence in Huang, the report said.

According to Daily Star, the board is meeting late on Wednesday, US time, a reversal from Sunday when directors backed him. Under the company's bylaws, Huang can be removed with or without cause by a majority vote of the board, which has 11 directors, all but Huang considered independent.

What the reports say

Daily Star reported that the stock fell more than 8% in extended trading after The Wall Street Journal reported the company was preparing to dismiss him. If those losses hold, Nvidia would have shed about $600 billion in market value since the board announced an investigation into his relationship with a businesswoman named Alice Huang, alleged to be a Chinese spy. US intelligence was examining Alice Huang over facilitating shipments of Nvidia chips to Chinese firms, the report said.

The New York Times reported Huang had a second extramarital affair with Kimberly Powell, Nvidia's vice president of healthcare, according to Daily Star. Huang acknowledged being unfaithful to his wife in a memo to employees on Sunday and took full responsibility. US President Donald Trump has voiced support for him.

Ars Technica reported that the FBI is investigating as Nvidia's board holds urgent talks over Huang's future.

No clear successor

Daily Star reported that Huang's departure would leave no clear successor at the roughly $4 trillion company he co-founded. He is 63, owns about 3.6% of the stock and has dozens of direct reports. Bloomberg reported the board has been working with an outside firm to identify replacements.

Minotaur Capital's Armina Rosenberg told Reuters that chief financial officer Colette Kress would be the natural interim choice, though the larger question was who would lead the technology roadmap. Prediction market Polymarket put an 88% chance on Huang resigning or being removed by year-end, with Ian Buck, business overseer of Nvidia's data centre clients, favoured as successor.

The names in the frame

• Ian Buck: A Stanford PhD who joined Nvidia in 2004, about 49, he helped launch AI on the company's chips and was a leader in developing its CUDA software system. He now heads product for hyperscale AI, managing Nvidia's AI hardware and software. Polymarket favoured him as successor, though Reuters notes trading volume on that market is small. Futurum Equities' Shay Boloor said that, if a transition becomes necessary, Buck is the strongest long-term internal candidate.
• Colette Kress: Nvidia's chief financial officer since 2013, 59, she previously held roles at Microsoft, Cisco and Texas Instruments and has joined Huang on the company's earnings calls. Semafor reported, citing people familiar with the matter, that some board members favour appointing her as interim CEO. eToro's Josh Gilbert said she is the obvious choice to keep things steady, though he added that the board would likely want an engineer in the permanent role.
• Rene Haas: The Arm chief executive and former Nvidia executive was named by Futurum Equities' Shay Boloor as an external candidate worth considering. A banker working on chip deals told Reuters that Haas made the most logical sense because he is high profile and understands the semiconductor industry.

Reuters also reported speculation about 32-year Nvidia veteran Jeff Fisher and one of Huang's two children, Madison and Spencer Huang, both of whom are executives at the company.

A Time essay by the authors behind Yale's CEO leadership forums backed Buck as a strong replacement. It also named Tim Cook among outside leaders who have succeeded or steadied famous founders. Cook, who oversaw Apple's supply chain before succeeding Steve Jobs in 2011, grew the company's value from about $350 billion to about $4 trillion. He stepped down as chief executive in September and remains with Apple as executive chairman. Reports suggest him only as a possible long-term outside candidate, and Nvidia has not said it has approached him.

As per Reuters, Minotaur Capital's Armina Rosenberg suggested the more realistic route could be an interim co-CEO arrangement, pairing a finance-minded leader such as Kress with a technology leader such as Buck. Reuters said it did not receive immediate responses to requests for comment sent to the companies where Kress, Buck and Haas work.

Sources: Ars Technica, The Daily Star