Nvidia's Huang exits after 33 years; Bitcoin slides under $73,000

Nvidia's board moved on November 12, and it stuck immediately: Huang is done as chief executive and director, with CFO Colette Kress taking over daily operations while the company hunts for a permanent replacement. She keeps the finance job too, bringing nearly 25 years of finance roles at Cisco and Microsoft before joining Nvidia in September 2013. Third-quarter fiscal 2027 results are still set for November 17, earnings call included.

The unraveling started with Alice Huang, an executive tied to Singapore-based Megaspeed International, which buys Nvidia processors. According to The New York Times, US intelligence officials suspected she was gathering information for China, and authorities examined whether Megaspeed helped Chinese firms obtain advanced chips restricted under American export controls. Huang told employees on Sunday he had been unfaithful to his wife and apologized to his family and colleagues. Reports of a second relationship, with Nvidia healthcare VP Kimberly Powell, who reported directly to him, followed.

Directors first stood by him, launching an independent investigation into whether he had been targeted by a foreign intelligence operation and saying on November 8 they had no reason to believe national security or confidential company information had been compromised. Then they flipped. The board named Harvey C. Jones, a former Synopsys chief executive, as its first chairman. Jones said the board has confidence in Kress and the existing leadership team, and that customer commitments, operations and product plans would continue without interruption.

Investors flinched: Nvidia shares fell more than 8% in extended trading once reports surfaced that directors were preparing to remove Huang, and stayed under pressure Thursday as Nasdaq 100 futures slipped around 1%. CoreWeave, tied to Nvidia's AI buildout, dropped about 6% after hours, while AMD and Broadcom gained roughly 4% and 3%. The chipmaker is still carrying giant AI projects, including a 20-year data center agreement with OpenAI and an Ohio facility supported by up to $105 billion in guarantees. Huang, 63, co-founded Nvidia with Chris Malachowsky and Curtis Priem in 1993 and built it into the dominant supplier of AI training silicon.

Bitcoin caught the crossfire, falling 1.8% over 24 hours to $72,467 on November 12, below $73,000 after trading above $74,500 earlier in the day, as US spot Bitcoin ETFs kept bleeding and tech stocks sagged. Hilbert Group CIO Russell Thompson flagged $71,900 as key support, with a slide toward $65,000 if it fails, warning that AI and semiconductor selling could force investors to dump crypto to meet margin calls. Miners pushing into AI computing face a roughly $50 billion funding gap on planned projects, per BlocksBridge Consulting's June estimate, and Lookonchain says public companies sold 108,247 BTC worth about $8.08 billion during 2026, with MARA Holdings and Riot Platforms behind more than half.