Nvidia stock drops as board reportedly weighs Jensen Huang’s future

Nvidia shares dropped sharply in after-hours trading on Wednesday after reports that CEO Jensen Huang had an extramarital relationship with a company executive and that the board is meeting to discuss his future.

Nvidia shares (NVDA) fell 8.4% as of 6 p.m. ET as investors digested the developments.

Shares of the world’s second-most-valuable company fell after The New York Times reported Huang had an extramarital relationship with an Nvidia executive, and the Wall Street Journal subsequently reported the Nvidia board is preparing to oust Huang, who co-founded the company three decades ago.

Nvidia did not immediately respond to requests for comment about the new reports.

Days earlier, Nvidia’s board said it would investigate whether Huang was the “target of a foreign intelligence effort” amid reports that he had a separate relationship with a woman US officials believe to be a Chinese spy. Huang on Sunday apologized for an extramarital affair, although he did not name the other party.

Huang is without a clear No. 2 if the board decides to remove him, with the founder having previously said he does not believe in succession planning.

“Our company was built so that I know how to run it,” he told Bloomberg in 2023. “So for as long as I’m running it, that’s all that matters.”

Investors are weighing the outlook for the chipmaker that’s been at the center of the AI boom if Huang is ousted from his role. The CEO has been one of AI’s most steadfast cheerleaders and funders, and investors have flocked to Nvidia shares because of his vision for the tech boom.

Nvidia shares dropped 9.5% across Monday and Tuesday after Huang’s weekend admission of extramarital affair and news of the Nvidia board’s investigation.

Shares rebounded Wednesday during trading, rising 2.9%, before tumbling in after-hours trading and erasing those gains.

Nvidia shares were down 27% from a peak in early October as of the market close on Wednesday, before the sharp after-hours decline.

The drop in Nvidia shares weighed on the broader market: Nasdaq 100 futures fell 1.1% and S&P 500 futures fell 0.5% as of 6:30 p.m ET.

While Nvidia shares tumbled, shares of other major semiconductor chipmakers moved higher. Advanced Micro Devices shares (AMD) rose 3.75% as of 6 p.m. ET, while Broadcom shares (AVGO) rose 2.7%.

This is a developing story and will be updated.