Yesterday I wrote about NVDA bouncing 2.87% to close at $173.73.

Yesterday I wrote about NVDA bouncing 2.87% to close at $173.73. Hours later it traded at $158.78 after hours, down 8.6% from that close, after The Wall Street Journal reported that Nvidia's board is preparing to oust Jensen Huang. Reuters, citing a source, says the board is meeting to decide whether to remove him.

The trigger was a New York Times report of a second extramarital relationship, this one with Kimberly Powell, Nvidia's VP of healthcare, who reports directly to him. Both are married to other people.

Five former employees told the Times the two were seen being affectionate at a San Jose hotel during GTC in March, and that Huang's security detail asked the bystander who recorded it to sign an NDA. The Times says it has not seen the video. When the Times called him Wednesday, he said "I don't think you should be talking to me directly" and hung up.

All of this lands on top of the Alice Huang story, the Wachtell investigation, and the House committee chairs who want him in a closed-door briefing on November 18. Reuters puts the market value lost since the investigation was announced, including the after-hours drop, at about $600B.

What worries me most is the succession question. Huang co-founded Nvidia and has run it since 1993, and the company has never publicly named a successor. Earnings are November 17, the day before that House briefing.

On November 8 the board said it had confidence in him and opened an independent investigation. Now it's reportedly weighing his removal, with no named successor and a quarterly report days away. I genuinely don't know who would be leading that call.

Sources:
The Independent: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/nvidia-jensen-huang-ceo-affair-b3083502.html
Odaily: https://www.odaily.com.cn/en/post/5213880

Not financial advice. For informational and educational purposes only.