Nvidia has lost the only chief executive it has ever had. Jensen Huang co-founded the company in a Denny's in 1993 and ran it for 33 years, taking it from a graphics card maker to the most valuable listed company in the world. On Thursday morning the board said he had resigned "as President, Chief Executive Officer, and a member of the Board, effective immediately."[1]
The release gave no reason. A company spokesperson told NBC News that Huang "will not be working with Nvidia in any capacity going forward."[2]
You don't need the release to explain it. The week before had already done that.
How it unravelled
The story moved fast, and almost every step came from press reporting rather than from Nvidia.
| Date | What happened |
|---|---|
| Spring 2026 | A memo from Secretary of State Marco Rubio about US intelligence on Huang's relationship with an asset of China's spy service circulates in Washington, according to later reporting by the New York Times and Financial Times[2] |
| Wed 4 Nov | Reps. Brian Mast, Rick Crawford and John Moolenaar ask Huang to appear before three House committees[7] |
| Sat 7 Nov | The Financial Times reports Huang had a relationship with a businesswoman a source described as a Chinese spy[3] |
| Sun 8 Nov | Huang tells staff "I was unfaithful to my wife." The board says it still backs him and opens an independent investigation[2][8] |
| Mon 9 Nov | Markets open on the news. A securities class action is filed in the Northern District of California, according to Trefis[9] |
| Tue 10 Nov | The board hires a former acting US attorney and his law firm. President Trump calls Huang and urges him to fight for his job, according to the New York Times[2][7] |
| Wed 11 Nov | The New York Times reports an affair with Kimberly Powell, Nvidia's vice president of health care, citing five employees. The board meets that night[2] |
| Thu 12 Nov | Reuters reports an "intimate relationship" with a second Nvidia employee. Nvidia announces Huang's resignation before the US open[10][1] |
In his Sunday memo, Huang wrote: "My actions hurt her and our children. There is no excuse for what I did. I am deeply sorry."[2] He has not publicly addressed the intelligence allegations.
Who is Alice Huang, and why it matters
The affair alone might have been survivable. The other party is the problem.
Alice Huang (no relation) held a senior role at Megaspeed International, a Singapore company founded in 2023 that Al Jazeera describes as Nvidia's "primary business partner in Southeast Asia".[10] Megaspeed and related firms are under US criminal investigation over alleged chip smuggling, and investigators are looking at whether Chinese companies got access to its roughly $4.8 billion stock of Nvidia chips.[2][10]
CNBC, citing initial New York Times reporting, says US officials had concluded she was a Chinese intelligence asset.[7] NBC News is more careful: her "precise role and relationship with China's spy service is unclear," and one former official suggested she may have been asked to cooperate rather than being a career intelligence officer.[2] Beijing called the reports "purely unsubstantiated and directed at smearing China."[2]
Then there's the timing. Huang spent years lobbying Washington to let Nvidia sell more advanced chips to China, and in December 2025 the administration approved H200 exports with a 25% tariff.[8] If the CEO making that case was in a relationship with someone linked to Chinese intelligence, every one of those decisions gets reopened. That is what Congress now wants to do.
What Nvidia and the new leadership have said
Nvidia's statement was short and warm. "Jensen's contributions to NVIDIA are profound," it said, and the board thanked him "for his immeasurable contributions to the company and the industry."[1]
Harvey C. Jones, a director since 1993 and a former CEO of Synopsys, becomes Nvidia's first-ever board chair.[1][8] Until this week the board had 11 members and no chair at all.[7] Jones said the board expects "the company's operations, customer commitments and product roadmap to continue without interruption."[1]
Kress joined Nvidia in 2013 after roughly 25 years in finance at Cisco, Microsoft and Texas Instruments.[1][8] Investors know her well: Huang often handed her the hard questions on earnings calls. Revenue went from $4.13 billion to $215.9 billion over her time as CFO.[8] "I am committed to building on the extraordinary foundation Jensen created over the last 33 years," she said.[1]
The board says it will look at internal and external candidates for the permanent job.[1] Dan Ives of Yorkville Ives & Co. expects an outsider.[11] Kress has called an all-hands meeting for 18 November.[12]
Outside the company, the reaction from people who had worked alongside Huang was mostly sorrow rather than surprise. Former Goldman Sachs chief Lloyd Blankfein put it in one line:[13]
Sad about Jensen. Shakespearean. But as de Gaulle said, "The graveyards are filled with indispensable men."
Trump: "What a horrible thing"
The White House has been unusually close to this story. Speaking to Hugh Hewitt hours after the resignation, President Trump said: "what a horrible thing that is! That's so sad to see that happen."[7] On Sunday he had told reporters Huang was "an honorable guy" who had "done an amazing job for our country."[2]
He also has a candidate. On Truth Social, Trump wrote that "there is only one man to take his place," naming Tim Cook, who became Apple's executive chairman in September: "A Legend replaces a Legend!"[14][2] Nvidia's board has not commented on the suggestion.
When Trump learned about the relationship is now a political question. A letter from Democratic ranking members Ron Wyden and Richard Neal says he reportedly knew "last fall."[7]
Congress wants answers
The resignation hasn't ended the political pressure. If anything it has added to it.
- Senate Banking: Chair Tim Scott has asked Huang to testify publicly on 3 December and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick on 10 December. "The American people deserve answers," he said, adding that the committee is ready to use subpoenas.[7][15]
- House Foreign Affairs: Chair Brian Mast says Huang has agreed to appear. The date and format are still being negotiated.[10]
- Democrats: Wyden and Neal have opened a probe into the Commerce Department's H200 approvals. Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said: "Despite Jensen Huang's resignation, Congress must demand answers from Mr. Huang and others at Nvidia."[7]
Recent reports raise serious concerns about our national security and the protection of sensitive U.S. technology.
I am requesting that NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick testify before the Senate Banking Committee.
· ExcerptView on X ↗
Separately, Bloomberg reports that federal prosecutors in Manhattan are examining whether organisations linked to Alice Huang diverted Super Micro AI servers to China.[7]
The market fallout
NVDA had already lost ground for three sessions before the announcement. On Thursday it gapped down at the open, touching $148.80 at 9:31 a.m. ET, a 14% drop, according to StockTitan's market data. NBC News puts the deepest intraday fall at 16%.[4][3] Then buyers stepped in. The stock closed at $166.19, down 4.3% on the day.[4]
Anyone who bought the open made about 12% in a morning. Strategist Mike Zaccardi called it as it happened:[16]
One of the more epic 'buy the news' events in history $NVDA
From $148 to $166 so far.. we'll see how it handles the Tuesday low
· Excerpt; chart image not shownView on X ↗
The bounce says the market had priced in a lot of the bad news by Thursday morning. It doesn't say the bad news is over.
The numbers behind that recovery are still ugly:
| Measure | Figure |
|---|---|
| Thursday close | $166.19 (−4.3%)[4] |
| Thursday intraday low | $148.80 (−14.3%)[4] |
| Since 6 Nov close ($186.64) | −11%[4] |
| From record close ($239.24, 6 Oct) | about −30%[4] |
| Value lost this week | about $500 billion[3] |
| Market cap | Briefly under $4 trillion for the first time since July 2025, closed just above[7] |
Reuters data cited by Al Jazeera put Nvidia on its lowest forward earnings multiple in 14 years.[10]
The damage spread unevenly. AI cloud companies that depend on Nvidia supply took the worst of it: Nebius fell 17% and CoreWeave about 7%. Super Micro dropped 12% on the Bloomberg report. The broader Philadelphia semiconductor index slipped only 0.5%, and AMD rose.[3][7][17] In Hong Kong, Alibaba fell about 7% on reports it was a Megaspeed customer.[7]
Wall Street's verdict
Analysts who had defended Nvidia through every valuation scare mostly stepped aside this time. Rating cuts came in over Wednesday and Thursday; TipRanks counts ten.[5]
| Firm | Analyst | Rating change | Price target |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bernstein | Stacy Rasgon | Outperform → Market Perform | $400 → $200 |
| Evercore ISI | Mark Lipacis | Outperform → In Line | $465 → $186 |
| Melius Research | Ben Reitzes | Buy → Hold | $315 → $185 |
| Baird | Tristan Gerra | Outperform → Neutral | $500 → $200 |
| Truist | William Stein | Buy → Hold | $346 → $174 |
| Craig-Hallum | Richard Shannon | Buy → Hold | $275 → $180 |
| Oppenheimer | Rick Schafer | Outperform → Perform | Target removed |
| KeyBanc | John Vinh | Overweight → Sector Weight | None |
| William Blair | Sebastien Naji | Outperform → Market Perform | None |
| StoneX | Cody Acree | Buy → Hold | $335 suspended |
| Citi | Buy (kept) | $285 → $225 | |
| Cantor Fitzgerald | CJ Muse | Overweight (kept) | $350 → $250 |
| DA Davidson | Buy (kept) | $300 → $200 |
Sources: TipRanks, CNBC and The Motley Fool.[5][6][17]
The language says more than the table. Rasgon at Bernstein: "We've had enough, and prefer to watch from the sidelines."[5] Craig-Hallum said Huang's exit "creates a big hole that will be very difficult, if not impossible, to fill."[5] Evercore's Lipacis expects Nvidia's "P/E multiple will continue to compress."[6]
Cantor's CJ Muse kept his Overweight rating but framed the bigger risk this way: "We are giving up the lead in AI in my view to China."[7] Dan Ives put a number on the founder premium: he values the stock at $300 with Huang and $225 without.[6]
Even after all that, TipRanks still shows a "Moderate Buy" consensus: 27 Buys, 10 Holds and no Sells, with an average target of $257.10.[5] Several of those Buy ratings were last updated before Thursday.
The lawsuits have started
Rosen Law Firm says it has filed a proposed class action for investors who bought before the fall. Its attorney Phillip Kim told CNBC that "several hundreds of investors" had been in touch.[7] Trefis reports a class action filed on 9 November in the Northern District of California covering purchases from October 2025 to early November 2026; it is not yet clear whether that is the same case.[9]
Ann Lipton, a securities law professor at the University of Colorado, told CNBC that the resignation "will strengthen any shareholder claims regarding damages."[7]
What traders should watch next
Earnings on Tuesday 17 November. Nvidia says it will release third-quarter fiscal 2027 results at about 1:20 p.m. PT "as previously scheduled", with the call at 2 p.m. PT.[1] This will be Kress's first call as interim CEO. The numbers matter less than usual. What the market wants to hear is whether customers have paused orders, whether China guidance changes, and whether any key engineers have left. Our Nvidia earnings preview sets out the guidance, the forecasts and the options-implied move, and our week-ahead calendar has the rest of the week's events.
China export rules. JPMorgan warned that "the risk of more restrictive guidelines on shipments directly or indirectly into China has risen."[3] Trump is due in Shenzhen for APEC from 18 November.[7] Anything said there about chip exports could move the stock.
Testimony dates. 3 December (Huang, if he appears) and 10 December (Lutnick) in the Senate. Hearings like these rarely move the stock by themselves, but a surprise disclosure could.
The CEO search. An external hire with strong engineering credentials would probably be read as good news. A long search, or more departures, would not.
If you trade NVDA through CFDs, options or leverage
- Size for a wide range. Thursday's intraday range was more than 10%. A gap of that size on earnings night will blow through a tight stop. A stop-loss order does not guarantee your exit price when the market gaps.
- Check your broker's margin changes. Brokers often raise margin requirements on single stocks during events like this. Read any emails from your provider before the 17th.
- Options premiums are high. Implied volatility rises into a scandal plus an earnings date. Buying options now means paying for that uncertainty. Selling them means taking on the risk of a large move.
- Be wary of "Nvidia signals". Telegram and Discord groups will be selling NVDA calls this week. Check any provider's verifiable track record before you follow it, and walk away from anyone promising returns.
What we don't know yet
- Whether US authorities will confirm that Alice Huang is a Chinese intelligence asset, and what, if anything, she learned.
- Whether Reuters' "second employee" is Kimberly Powell or someone else. Nvidia and Powell have not commented.[2]
- Whether Huang will testify on 3 December, and in what form.
- What the board's independent investigation finds, and whether it is published.
- Whether Huang, who owns about 3.6% of Nvidia, plans to sell shares now that he is no longer an insider bound by the company's trading windows.[10]
- Who will run Nvidia permanently.
We will update this report as Nvidia, the board and investigators confirm more.
