By Aimee Picchi
Publication Date: 2026-11-10 21:55:00
Nvidia’s board of directors faces a trillion-dollar dilemma: Can the chipmaker afford to part with its storied co-founder and CEO, now embroiled in multiple investigations into his affair with an alleged Chinese spy?
In recent years, several high-profile CEOs have been ousted after their relationships with employees and customers came under scrutiny, including former McDonald’s CEO Steve Easterbrook and Kohl’s CEO Ashley Buchanan. But none is so closely identified with their companies as Huang. Over more than three decades, he has led Nvidia as it grew into one of the world’s most valuable companies, with many investors viewing him as equally critical to the company’s success as Elon Musk is to SpaceX or Steve Jobs was to Apple.
Huang is facing serious challenges, including an independent inquiry by Nvidia’s board into the affair, a shareholder lawsuit and questions from lawmakers. Heightening the stakes are allegations that Huang had a close relationship with a former female executive at an Nvidia customer who is also suspected of working with China’s intelligence agency.
$450 billion drop
Nvidia shareholders have been spooked by the disclosure, with the company’s shares shedding 10% of their value — or about $450 billion — in the last two trading days alone.
“It exposes how dependent the company is on this one person,” Shiva Rajgopal, a Columbia Business School professor who studies corporate governance, told CBS News.
He added, “This is like asking if…
