Nvidia sinks after report implicates CEO Jensen Huang in 2nd affair
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Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang. Photo: Soeren Stache/picture alliance via Getty Images
Shares in Nvidia sank Wednesday night after the New York Times reported CEO Jensen Huang had a second affair with a senior executive who reports to him.
Why it matters: The report adds to mounting scrutiny of Huang, already under investigation over an affair with a purported Chinese spy.
- The potential impact goes beyond one man and one business, though. Huang is arguably the world's most powerful CEO at the moment, his company serving as the beating heart of the AI revolution.
- He also has no obvious successor.
Driving the news: Huang, 63, had a relationship with Kimberly Powell, 48, Nvidia's vice president of health care, according to the Times.
- Both are married to other people.
- The two were reportedly seen being affectionate at a hotel during Nvidia's annual developer conference in San Jose in March.
- A bystander recorded the interaction, and Huang's security team made an offer to the person to sign a nondisclosure agreement, per the Times.
- The paper reported that Nvidia declined to issue a statement, and Powell did not respond to a request for comment.
By the numbers: Nvidia shares fell nearly 5% in after-hours trading Wednesday.
- The company's lost about $1 trillion in market cap since the Times first reported on Oct. 29 that Huang had a "close relationship" with a suspected spy.
- On the prediction market Kalshi, the odds of Huang being out as CEO by Jan. 1 doubled after the report.
Zoom out: This new report comes after Huang confirmed in a company email that he had been unfaithful in his marriage.
- Nvidia has an independent panel investigating, and hired the law firm Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz to handle the probe.
Between the lines: Peter Jaworski, a business ethics professor at Georgetown University, said it will be hard for Huang to keep his job after this.
- "You can't have a relationship like this with a direct report," Jaworski tells Axios. "Does the CEO get fired? In this situation that's probably the move to make."
- Jaworski said the situation could also raise questions about what the board knew and when it knew it.
- At a minimum, he says Nvidia's board needs to place Huang on administrative leave immediately while it conducts an investigation into both relationships.
What we're watching: How Nvidia handles the growing scandal could have effects far beyond just its walls.
Editor's note: This story has been updated with new details.
