Nvidia shares slide as board reportedly prepares to remove Jensen Huang

Nvidia’s biggest problem this week has nothing to do with chips. It has to do with the man who has run the company since its founding.

On Wednesday afternoon, The Wall Street Journal reported that Nvidia’s board is preparing to remove CEO Jensen Huang. The report landed minutes after The New York Times published new allegations about Huang’s personal conduct. Shares fell approximately 8% in after-hours trading on November 11.

How the scandal unfolded

The trouble started with a name: Alice Huang. She is a former executive at Megaspeed, and US intelligence officials believe China’s Ministry of State Security recruited her to spy on Nvidia.

Jensen Huang had close personal ties to her. On November 8, 2026, he acknowledged in a memo to employees that he had been unfaithful to his wife.

Nvidia’s board then opened an independent investigation. Its core question is whether Huang was a target of foreign intelligence.

Former acting US Attorney Joon Kim is leading that probe. Nvidia has said it found no evidence that national security or corporate secrets were compromised.

The Megaspeed connection is what turns a personal matter into a corporate one. Megaspeed purchased billions of dollars in Nvidia chips between March and November 2023.

A second report, and a sharper market reaction

Then came Wednesday. The Times reported that Huang is also said to have had a relationship with Kimberly Powell, a vice president at Nvidia who reported to him.

The Journal’s report on the board’s plans followed almost immediately. Investors reacted the way investors usually react to the words “preparing to remove” next to a founder’s name.

Shares slid roughly 8% after the closing bell. The episode has contributed to an estimated loss of about $600 billion in Nvidia’s market value over the course of the week.

Legal pressure is building as well. A proposed shareholder class-action lawsuit claims Nvidia’s disclosures around these incidents have been inadequate.

Huang has denied having espionage ties. Donald Trump has publicly backed him, saying he believes that denial.

Why Washington cares about this

Nvidia is not an ordinary tech company in the eyes of US policymakers. Its chips sit at the center of US export controls, which aim to limit China’s access to advanced computing.

The board’s investigation is meant to answer whether that access was ever exploited. Nvidia’s position so far is that nothing sensitive was compromised.

What this means for Nvidia and its investors

The immediate risk is uncertainty over leadership. If the board does move to remove Huang, Nvidia would face a succession at a critical moment for its AI business. If it does not, the company still has an open investigation, a proposed class action, and allegations that may keep surfacing.

Governance is the other pressure point. The class-action claim about inadequate disclosure suggests some shareholders believe they learned too much, too late, from the newspapers rather than from the company.

For now, the key items to track are straightforward. Watch for an official board decision on Huang’s role, findings from the investigation led by Joon Kim, and any developments in the proposed shareholder lawsuit.