Nvidia board moves to oust Jensen Huang over affairs, spy claim

Nvidia's board of directors is preparing to push out founder and CEO Jensen Huang, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter. Directors could meet as soon as Wednesday to decide his future at the chipmaker. The move would end Huang's run atop a company that has become the spine of the artificial intelligence boom. Cointelegraph reached out to Nvidia for comment and did not receive an immediate response.

One of the two affairs involved Alice Huang, an executive at Singapore-based data company Megaspeed, a major Nvidia customer, per the Journal. US intelligence officials believe she was a spy for Beijing. The New York Times reported Wednesday that Huang also had an affair with Nvidia's vice president of health care, Kimberly Powell, according to five people who worked at the company.

Huang addressed the situation directly. In a letter to employees on Sunday, he admitted he had been unfaithful to his wife and apologized for breaching their trust. "I was unfaithful to my wife. My actions hurt her and our children. There is no excuse for what I did," he wrote.

Huang also confirmed the board had launched an independent investigation into national security concerns raised in news reports. He pledged to cooperate fully and said he remained committed to the company.

The market reaction was swift. Nvidia shares fell 8% in after-hours trading, landing at $159.76 and wiping out a 2.9% gain from the regular session, according to Google Finance data.