Nvidia board weighs Jensen Huang’s future: Can it remove its founder?

What the report says

Nvidia’s board is considering the future of cofounder and chief executive Jensen Huang after the company was hit by a sharp share-price drop and a report of a possible governance crisis. According to Al Jazeera’s reporting, the board met late Wednesday and is weighing whether Huang can be removed, while also pursuing an independent inquiry into whether he was targeted by a foreign intelligence effort. Nvidia said it still had confidence in Huang and his leadership team.

The controversy stems from reports that Huang had extramarital relationships, including one with a businesswoman identified in the article as someone U.S. officials suspect of working for Chinese intelligence. Huang acknowledged to staff that he had been unfaithful. The article also says the New York Times reported a separate relationship with another Nvidia executive. Nvidia’s stock fell more than 8 percent in after-hours trading after the Wall Street Journal reported that directors were preparing to oust him.

Al Jazeera notes that Nvidia’s bylaws allow directors to remove the CEO with or without cause, and Huang does not have majority voting control despite owning a stake in the company. The board reportedly has 11 members, most of them independent. Analysts cited in the article said replacements could include senior internal executives such as Colette Kress or Ian Buck, though no decision has been announced.

The stakes are high because Huang has led Nvidia since 1993 and turned it into a dominant supplier of chips for artificial intelligence. The article also places the issue in a broader context of U.S.-China technology tensions, export controls and ongoing scrutiny of Nvidia’s business in China.