Yesterday afternoon a source called to ask about timing for a story we had discussed. "Tomorrow," I replied. "Unless something really big happens."

• Just hours later, the source texted: "Looks like you have bigger news to cover."

Driving the news: Nvidia co-founder and CEO Jensen Huang admitted to having a romantic relationship with an alleged Chinese spy, apologizing to his family and company employees.

• The company's board said it would launch an independent investigation, adding that it retains confidence in Huang and his leadership team.
• Nvidia shares opened nearly 7% lower, wiping out hundreds of billions of dollars in market value.

Why it matters: This could be catastrophic for the company, the tech industry, and the country.

• Nvidia underlies the entire AI trade, which already was under pressure that ratcheted up after last week's midterm elections.
• Not just in terms of its market-leading chips, but also in terms of the money those chips generate — which often gets fed back into the flywheel via strategic and venture capital dealmaking.
• Just this morning in South Korea, Nvidia announced new investments in South Korean startups.

The big picture: Almost any other CEO would already have been axed. If not for the national security risks, then for the lies that may result in a pretty compelling shareholder lawsuit.

• But no one yet can imagine separating Huang from Nvidia. His black leather jacket might as well be the company's logo.
• He is both structurally and spiritually integral to Nvidia, a company whose flat org chart doesn't suggest a succession plan. In short, Huang may be too big to fire.

Zoom in: There are a ton of questions still to be answered, both by the board investigation and the inevitable congressional hearings.

• Most will be for Huang. But also many for White House officials like Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick.
• There is reporting that the White House has been aware of Huang's affair for months, yet continued to let him attend presidential events and travel with presidential delegations. It also was deferential to Huang when it came to AI policy, including on chip sale agreements to China.
• President Trump yesterday shrugged off the controversy, even saying he "would certainly take" Huang on next week's trip to China. But that's not likely to satisfy Congress, including Republicans who may be more emboldened than ever to buck the administration.

The bottom line: AI is much bigger than any individual, but Huang is as close as the industry can get to a key man.

Strathcona Resources (TSX: SCR) has agreed to buy rival Canadian oil sands group Greenfire Resources (NYSE: GFR) for between C$2.7 billion and C$2.9 billion in cash and stock.

Why it's the BFD: The Canadian oil sands industry is rapidly consolidating, as energy demand is expected to surge in the coming years.

• Greenfire recently completed a C$1.28 billion acquisition of Connacher Oil & Gas, while Strathcona last year tried to buy MEG Energy (which instead sold to Cenovus Energy).

Zoom in: Waterous Energy Fund controls both companies, with nearly a 57% stake in Strathcona and a 72% position in Greenfire.

The bottom line: "The combined business will be the 4th largest SAGD operator in Canada and the only company with significant operations across all three major oil sands deposits (Athabasca, Cold Lake and Lloydminster) and all major producing formations (the McMurray, Clearwater and Mannville)." — Strathcona press release

• Onodrim, the Dutch defense and industrial scale-up platform, raised $300m in Series A funding at a $1.3b post-money valuation. Lux Capital led, joined by General Catalyst, Lakestar, Altimeter, Strike Capital, 137 Ventures, 8090, and Expeditions. axios.link/4z6UTS8

⚡ Project Omega, a developer of battery-like power systems from used nuclear fuel, raised $80m in Series A funding, per Axios Pro. B Capital led, joined by 645 Capital, Noa VC, Starship Ventures, Mantis Ventures, Decisive Point, Virta Ventures, Pace Ventures, Essential Capital, and Washington Harbour Partners. axios.link/4k4W6Ws

• Vudoo, an Australian ad-tech for retailers, raised A$22m in Series B funding led by Blue Sky Capital. axios.link/4AkZCAz

• GeniosAI, a Santa Clara, Calif.-based provider of AI software for financial analysis and modeling, raised $19.1m in combined seed and Series A funding, per Axios Pro. FactSet led the Series A, joined by Zoom and General Catalyst. axios.link/4Ad4MyC

• Marble Imaging, a German provider of high-res Earth observation data, raised €6m led by Cherry Ventures. axios.link/4z8rI16

🚑 Bon Secours Mercy Health sweetened its takeover deal for Surgery Partners (Nasdaq: SGRY) to up to $6b, after Surgery Partners received an unsolicited rival bid. Bain Capital is rolling over its Surgery Partners stake into the Bon Secours deal. BFD flashback

• GES, a Truelink Capital portfolio company, acquired CSG Creative, a marketing and creative agency for associations, trade shows, and conferences. axios.link/4eTDzc2

• Intermatic, an MPE Partners portfolio company, acquired Sun-Tech, a Raynham, Mass.-based provider of outdoor lighting-control and power-connectivity products. axios.link/4j2n286

• Walter Capital Partners invested in Les Éditions Passe-Temps, a Quebec-based publisher of educational games and books. axios.link/3XdPRpB

Two companies, Rezera and vVardis, expect to price U.S. IPOs this week. We're also expecting Anthropic to launch its IPO roadshow shortly, perhaps tomorrow.

• A Paradise III Acquisition, a leisure and entertainment SPAC, filed for a $100m IPO. axios.link/3VdiZNa

🚑 vVardis, a Swiss dental products maker backed by Apollo and OrbiMed, set IPO terms to 9.5m shares at $21-$24. It would have a $1.3b market value at the midpoint, plans to list on the NYSE (VVVV), and reports a $28m net loss on $29m in revenue for the first half of 2026. axios.link/48Gc7ek

• Alfa Laval (STO: ALFA) agreed to acquire Navtor, a Norwegian provider of e-navigation software, for $700m in cash from Accel-KKR. axios.link/4zb2m2H

🚑 Argenx (Nasdaq: ARGX) agreed to buy Unnatural Products, a Santa Cruz, Calif.-based developer of macrocyclic peptide therapeutics, for up to $1.15b (including earnouts). UP had raised over $80m from The Venture Collective, Droia Ventures, Merck Global Health Innovation Fund, Artis Ventures, and First Spark Ventures. axios.link/4kzT1ha

🍔 Cinven agreed to sell its stake in fast-food franchisor Restaurant Brands Europe to a consortium led by RBE founder Gregorio Jiménez. axios.link/4iwExgH

🚑 Peak Rock Capital hired Harris Williams to sell 626, a Boca Raton, Fla.-based imaging servicing company, per Axios Pro. axios.link/4ix2swr

• Codan (ASX: CDA) agreed to acquire Eventide Communications, a Little Ferry, N.J.-based provider of recording and analytics solutions. axios.link/482SQnd

• Crédit Agricole (Paris: ACA) proposed merging its Italian unit with Banco BPM (Milan: BAMI). axios.link/489URxR

• Fox Corp. (Nasdaq: FOXA) completed its $22b cash-and-stock acquisition of Roku (Nasdaq: ROKU). axios.link/4flDcan

• CKX Lands (NYSE: CKX), a Lake Charles, La.-based provider of mineral land management services, agreed to a $1b equity investment from Jacobs Private Equity and HRTG Partners (fka Sequoia Heritage). axios.link/4iwIDFG

• Mitsui Chemicals (Tokyo: 4183) and state-backed Development Bank of Japan agreed to buy JSR, a Japanese maker of semiconductor materials, for around $8.8b. axios.link/4sPd4uc

• Ardian raised €1b for its debut semiconductor fund, including around €300m in co-investment commitments. axios.link/3XeSlnC

• Don Harrison, Alphabet's president of global partnerships and corp dev, stepped down as a SpaceX (Nasdaq: SPCX) director. He originally joined in 2015, tied to a Google investment. axios.link/4kFKeKw

• Karen Karniol-Tambour will step down as co-chief investment officer of Bridgewater Associates to run Canada's new sovereign wealth fund, per Bloomberg. axios.link/4eqDlZN

That's Nvidia's recent stock performance before yesterday's revelations.