Nvidia's board announced it is opening an independent investigation after reporting that Jensen Huang was the target of a foreign…
Nvidia's board announced it is opening an independent investigation after reporting that Jensen Huang was the target of a foreign intelligence effort. A committee of independent directors will oversee it, assisted by outside counsel.
Per AP's account of the New York Times story, the effort centered on Alice Huang, a top executive at Singapore-based data company Megaspeed. China's government called the allegations "baseless and purely slanderous smears."
Jensen's internal memo to staff admitted infidelity: "My actions hurt her and our children. There is no excuse for what I did. I am deeply sorry." The memo doesn't name the person involved. He also wrote that he is "committed to protecting NVIDIA and supporting America's national security."
The board says it has "no reason to believe that either national security or NVIDIA secrets were compromised" and that it "has confidence in Jensen and his leadership team." Nvidia told ABC News that "Today's news will not slow NVIDIA." Off-hours trading is less relaxed: Reuters has NVDA shares and perpetual futures around $180.30, about 3.4% below Friday's $186.64 close, and Nasdaq 100 futures fell as much as 1%.
My read is that the board statement buys time, and the date that matters is November 18. That is when House Republicans on the Select Committee on China have asked Jensen to join a closed-door briefing about his relationship with Alice Huang, with a reply due by November 11.
Earnings land the day before. A board can express confidence in its CEO. Congress will want specifics, and I'm curious how much of what gets said in that room ends up shaping the board's own findings.
Sources:
Nvidia (official): https://nvidianews.nvidia.com/news/statement-from-nvidia-board-of-directors
AP News: https://apnews.com/article/68839e7ca6ba2b121529f7e475e501d6
ABC News: https://abcnews.com/Technology/nvidia-announces-investigation-ceo-amid-foreign-intelligence-target/story?id=137959091
Not financial advice. For informational and educational purposes only.