Nvidia board weighs Jensen Huang’s future: Can it remove its founder?

Jensen Huang may be ousted as the CEO of Nvidia after the tech giant lost more than $600bn in market value this week, following reports that he had extramarital affairs with two women, including a businesswoman accused of spying for China.

Nvidia’s board of directors met late on Wednesday to decide whether to remove Huang, who cofounded the $4.2 trillion company, which supplies most of the chips used for advanced artificial intelligence (AI).

Huang, 63, admitted on Sunday in a memo to staff that he had been unfaithful to his wife, following the reports of a relationship with Alice Huang, a former executive at Singapore-based Megaspeed whom United States officials suspect of working for Chinese intelligence, a claim China has denied.

On Wednesday, The New York Times reported that Huang had another extramarital relationship with Kimberly Powell, Nvidia’s vice president of healthcare, who reports to him. The newspaper cited five people who worked at the company.

Nvidia’s shares fell more than 8 percent in after-hours trading on Wednesday after The Wall Street Journal reported that the board was preparing to oust Huang.

Here’s what you need to know:

Can Nvidia’s board remove Huang?

Yes.

Under Nvidia’s bylaws, Huang can be removed “with or without cause” by a majority vote of directors.

The board has 11 members, and all but Huang are considered independent.

Huang owns about 3.6 percent of the company, according to LSEG data,…