Overview
- Nvidia announced Thursday that founder Jensen Huang resigned as president, CEO and board member and that CFO Colette Kress will serve as interim CEO while the board seeks a permanent successor.
- The board initiated an independent probe led by outside counsel and named longtime director Harvey C. Jones as the company’s first board chair to oversee the governance review.
- Reporting alleged Huang had an affair with Alice Huang, a former Megaspeed executive U.S. officials say was a Chinese intelligence asset, and a separate affair with an Nvidia vice president who reported to him.
- Those reports triggered active inquiries from the FBI and Department of Justice, demands for closed-door congressional briefings, and shareholder litigation as Nvidia’s stock plunged and erased hundreds of billions in market value.
- The episode has raised broader questions about export controls and channel risk for advanced AI chips, drawn scrutiny to Megaspeed’s purchases of Nvidia hardware, and left investors and partners watching for the board’s findings and potential policy responses.