Analysts says Nvidia CEO unlikely to be ousted over affair, but raise questions about company’s future

Wall Street analysts are reacting to news of Nvidia (NVDA) CEO Jensen Huang’s affair with a woman alleged to be a Chinese spy with a mixture of caution and concern about the company’s future and what the episode means for the AI industry.

Nvidia stock fell in early trading Monday.

In an email to Nvidia employees, Jensen Huang admitted to the affair and apologized to his family. The company’s board has launched an independent investigation into the matter, but noted that it has “no reason to believe that either national security or Nvidia secrets were compromised.”

The woman, Alice Huang, was an executive at Singapore data center company MegaSpeed, which has been the subject of investigations into whether it smuggled Nvidia chips into China.

One of the company’s co-founders, Jensen Huang, is instrumental to the AI boom and closely guides Nvidia’s strategy.

Moor Insights & Strategy CEO and chief analyst Patrick Moorhead told Yahoo Finance that he doesn’t believe Huang will be pushed out unless the board’s investigation turns up anything.

“The issue is that Jensen is the product strategist, the closer with the hyperscalers, and the face of the company in Washington and Beijing. This story puts that last role at risk,” Moorehead said.

Wedbush analyst Matt Bryson wrote in a note to investors that the board’s initial…