Nvidia board works with an outside firm to find a replacement for Jensen Huang

Nvidia's board has been working with an outside firm to identify possible replacements for Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, Bloomberg reported on Wednesday, citing a person familiar with the situation. The directors are also weighing a temporary chief while they look for a permanent one. Nvidia did not respond to Bloomberg's request for comment.

Earlier that day The Wall Street Journal reported that the board was preparing to oust Huang over extramarital affairs and could meet as soon as Wednesday. The directors met, according to Bloomberg, which reported no outcome.

Two reported relationships

On Sunday Huang admitted to an affair with Alice Huang, no relation, a data centre executive at Megaspeed International. The Singapore-based company is one of Nvidia's largest customers in Southeast Asia, and US investigators have looked at it for months over possible chip smuggling. The New York Times reported that Alice Huang was suspected of acting as an agent for the Chinese government. Megaspeed and Nvidia deny wrongdoing, and Beijing has dismissed the spying claims.

Late on Wednesday the NYT reported a second relationship, with Kimberly Powell, Nvidia's vice president of healthcare and one of Huang's direct reports. The paper cited current and former employees. Powell did not respond to Bloomberg by publication, and Nvidia has not confirmed the report.

We traced the story from the first spy reports in our scandal timeline, and covered how Nvidia's lawyer contacted the Commerce Department during the Megaspeed probe.

The market reaction

Nvidia shares fell about 8% in after-hours trading on Wednesday, after the WSJ report. The stock had lost about 11% over the previous five days, TechCrunch counted, and ABC News put it about 33% below its early October peak, when the company was worth $5.7 trillion.

Nvidia sells the chips most AI labs use for training and inference, so a leadership fight at the company moves the whole AI trade. Chip stocks fell 12% in the 6 November selloff, which cost Nvidia $450 billion.

No successor in place

Huang co-founded Nvidia 33 years ago and is the only person who has run it. The 11-member board has no permanent chair, Huang is its only insider, and about 60 executives report straight to Huang. Huang once dismissed succession planning, The Wall Street Journal reported.

“Jensen is not replaceable … there is no other person on the management team bench that can step in seamlessly as CEO”

— Dan Ives, technology analyst at Yorkville Ives, comments to Reuters, cited by ABC News

Quote source: ABC News, citing Reuters, 12 November 2026.

If you hold Nvidia shares or funds heavy in chip stocks, expect sharp moves until the board announces a decision. Nothing is official so far: the ouster plan, the search firm and the Powell relationship all come from unnamed sources.

This report relies on Bloomberg, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times and other outlets that cite unnamed sources, and Nvidia has confirmed none of the board steps. It is not investment advice.