The Wall Street Journal says Nvidia's directors are moving to push out the man who co-founded the company in 1993, after two extramarital affairs, including one with a suspected Chinese spy. The board could meet as soon as today.
The man in the leather jacket might be done. The Wall Street Journal reported this evening that Nvidia’s board is preparing to oust Jensen Huang, the company’s co-founder and chief executive. The Journal’s own summary is blunt: the board is moving against him “after he had two extramarital affairs, including one with a suspected Chinese spy.”
The Verge’s Tom Warren, passing along the Journal’s reporting, said the board “will meet as soon as today to determine his future.” Nvidia has not announced any decision as of 5:50 PM ET, and Huang is still CEO right now. But this is a sharp turn from where things stood just three days ago.
Update 6:58 PM ET: The meeting is happening. Bloomberg reported this evening that “Nvidia’s board is meeting to discuss the fate of CEO Jensen Huang,” citing a source. There’s still no decision announced, and Huang remains CEO for now. The pressure from Wall Street is climbing while the board talks: Reuters reported that Baird and Morgan Stanley have soured on Nvidia as the affair controversy deepens. Reuters also reported that Wachtell, the law firm Nvidia picked for its Huang probe, built its reputation in boardroom battles.
Original article
How we got here
The scandal blew up over the weekend. Huang acknowledged an affair with Alice Huang, a former executive at Megaspeed whom U.S. officials suspect of being a Chinese spy, according to Fortune. The Financial Times, in a story published by Ars Technica, described her as an executive at a large Nvidia customer. On Sunday, Nvidia’s board opened an independent investigation and, the same day, said it had confidence in its CEO and had no reason to believe national security or Nvidia’s secrets had been compromised, Fortune reported.
Wall Street did not share that calm. Nvidia shares fell as much as 8.8% on Monday and closed down about 4.3%, Fortune reported, wiping out roughly $190 billion in market value. Then on Wednesday the story got worse. Bloomberg, citing The New York Times, reported that Huang “also had an affair with an executive who reports to him.” That second affair is the other half of the “two extramarital affairs” in the Journal’s report.
Washington is circling too. Reuters reported that House Republicans are pushing for Huang to testify and floating a subpoena over the spy allegations.
No plan B
Here’s the part that should worry anyone who cares about Nvidia’s next decade. Huang has run Nvidia since he co-founded it in 1993, and the company has not publicly named a successor, Fortune reported. He runs it with roughly 60 direct reports in a very flat structure, Quartz reported, citing the Journal. Nvidia’s own proxy statement, as quoted by Quartz citing the Journal, warns that the company is “highly dependent on the services of our longstanding executive team,” and that not having effective succession planning could “hinder our strategic planning, execution, and long-term success.”
If Nvidia pushes Jensen out, what happens to GeForce?
Vote and see what other Xbox fans think.
Like having a say? Get OnPoint Weekly or argue it out on Discord.
Even Nvidia’s biggest fans have called him the whole show. Analysts at Bernstein told clients that “Nvidia is not an ordinary company and Jensen is not an ordinary CEO; he IS Nvidia,” as the Financial Times reported in a story published by Ars Technica. Earlier this week, a company spokesperson told Axios that Huang was committed to continuing as CEO without interruption, according to Fortune. If the Journal is right, the board is no longer on that page.
Why PC gamers should care
Nvidia makes most of its money from AI data centers now, but it started as a graphics company, and Huang has been the face of every GeForce era PC players lived through. He’s the one on stage announcing new RTX cards and new DLSS versions, and the one setting how hard Nvidia pushes gaming next to the AI boom. A new CEO, especially an outsider brought in to calm Washington and investors, could look at the gaming business very differently.
Our take: this cuts both ways. A boss who isn’t Huang could keep treating GeForce as the side project it has slowly become next to AI, or could finally have to win PC gamers back on price instead of on keynote hype. What we do know is that a leadership fight at the company behind GeForce, right as the biggest launch window of the year hits, is a story every PC player should be watching. We’ll update this the moment Nvidia’s board makes a call.
Image: Nvidia
Sources
- The Wall Street Journal on X (November 11, 2026): Nvidia’s board is preparing to oust CEO Jensen Huang
- The Wall Street Journal exclusive: Nvidia is Preparing to Oust CEO Jensen Huang
- Tom Warren on X (November 11, 2026): The board will meet as soon as today
- Bloomberg on X (November 11, 2026): Nvidia’s board is meeting to discuss the fate of CEO Jensen Huang
- Reuters on X (November 11, 2026): Baird, Morgan Stanley sour on Nvidia as CEO affair controversy deepens
- Reuters on X (November 11, 2026): Wachtell, Nvidia’s pick for Huang probe, built reputation in boardroom battles
- Bloomberg on X (November 11, 2026): Huang also had an affair with an executive who reports to him, per The New York Times
- Reuters on X (November 11, 2026): House Republicans push for Huang to testify, float subpoena
- Fortune (November 11, 2026): Why Nvidia’s board may rein in Jensen Huang rather than fire him
- Ars Technica (Financial Times, November 10, 2026): Nvidia has a Jensen Huang problem and no obvious successor
- Quartz: Nvidia stock falls as board probe exposes Huang succession void
