Nvidia's board is weighing whether to remove its own founder. The Wall Street Journal broke that news Wednesday evening1. Hours earlier, The New York Times named a second Nvidia executive as Jensen Huang's affair partner2.
Huang runs the world's most valuable chipmaker. His stock fell 4.3 percent Monday and 5.47 percent Tuesday4. It rose 2.87 percent Wednesday, before falling 8.3 percent after hours once both reports landed3.
The Second Report Lands
Kimberly Powell runs Nvidia's healthcare business. She has worked at the company since 20082.
The Times named her as Huang's second affair partner. Both are married to other people2.
A bystander photographed them together at a San Jose hotel in March, during a company conference5. Nvidia's own security guard stepped in right away. He offered that bystander a nondisclosure agreement, the Times reported.
Nvidia's board answered in writing. "While the Board has no reason to believe that either national security or NVIDIA secrets were compromised, the Board's inquiry will examine all available information," the board said5.
Investors reacted immediately. Nvidia's stock fell 8.3 percent after hours, closing just above $159 a share3. The after-hours price was its lowest point since July 2025.
Nvidia Erases a Rebound in One Evening, Falling 8.3%
Nvidia's (NVDA) percent change by session, Nov. 9 to 11, 2026
Each column is one trading session's percent change; the last column is the after-hours move once Wednesday's two reports landed, stacked on top of Wednesday's daytime gain.
The last column is an after-hours move layered on Wednesday's close; the other three are full trading sessions.
Sources: 24/7 Wall St. [3]; CNBC [4]. Chart by Ryan Elliott Dennis.
The numbers behind this chart
| Item | Value |
|---|---|
| Mon. | −4.30% |
| Tue. | −5.47% |
| Wed. day | 2.87% |
| Wed. after hours | −8.30% |
The Board's Calculus
Timing matters here. Huang's board trouble began weeks earlier. The Times first reported his relationship with a suspected Chinese spy on Oct. 295. He admitted to that affair in a Nov. 8 message to his wife3.
Nvidia's Scandal Escalates in 13 Days, to a Board Decision
Four reported events involving Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, Oct. 29 to Nov. 11, 2026
Each pin is a dated report or admission; the last two landed hours apart on the same Wednesday evening.
Sources: Semafor [1]; TechCrunch [2]; 24/7 Wall St. [3]; Yahoo Finance [5]. Chart by Ryan Elliott Dennis.
The numbers behind this chart
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| Oct. 29, 2026 | NYT: spy affair report |
| Nov. 8, 2026 | Huang admits affair |
| Nov. 11, 2026 | NYT names second affair |
| Nov. 11, 2026 | WSJ: board weighs oust |
Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz is running the board's review, checking whether Huang divulged corporate secrets or endangered national security, Semafor reported1.
Nvidia's board already faces one succession question, and David Yoffie, who teaches at Harvard Business School, put it bluntly. "The Nvidia board is between a rock and a hard spot. They have almost no good options," he said6.
Shiva Rajgopal studies governance at Columbia Business School. He called Nvidia's reliance on one man unusual among companies this large. "These are effectively run like family private companies, but they are mega-cap public companies," Rajgopal said6.
Gil Luria covers Nvidia for D.A. Davidson, and he pointed straight at the gap in the board's own succession planning. "Mr. Huang being removed immediately could be challenging for Nvidia since it does not have a succession plan in place," Luria said11.
Congress Sets a Deadline
Two House committees want Huang in a closed room. Reps. Brian Mast and John Moolenaar chair them. They gave Huang until the end of Wednesday to agree to a private briefing7.
Moolenaar made that plain. "Huang has until the end of the day to respond to the request. If he doesn't agree to the briefing, he'll likely be subpoenaed," he told Fox Business7.
Sen. Kevin Cramer went further. The North Dakota Republican called for Huang's resignation Tuesday night8. "This is a guy that's right now so vulnerable to extortion, blackmail," Cramer said.
Rep. Suhas Subramanyam agreed, in four words. "Jensen Huang should resign from Nvidia," the Virginia Democrat said8.
Nebraska's Don Bacon, a retiring Republican, made a related point. Huang "allowed himself to get compromised by the Chinese government," Bacon said.
Two senators are pushing a different fix. Elizabeth Warren and Jim Banks want the AI Overwatch Act folded into this year's defense bill8. The affair, they said, "makes these national security concerns even more urgent".
Both Sides of the Vote
Wall Street reads Huang's risk differently than Congress does. Mizuho's Jordan Klein covers Nvidia for his firm. "He is too important for NVDA and the entire industry. I would assume the investigation finds no serious wrongdoing or anything criminal. Jensen likely remains CEO; nothing changes in the long run," Klein wrote9.
Patrick Moorhead runs Moor Insights & Strategy. He named the specific job at risk. "The issue is that Jensen is the product strategist, the closer with the hyperscalers, and the face of the company in Washington and Beijing. This story puts that last role at risk," Moorhead said9.
Bernstein's Stacy Rasgon sees little financial risk either way. "We believe demand for the company's products seems unlikely to be affected," he wrote. Nvidia, he added, now sits "at the center of that debate" over AI policy9.
The Wall Street Journal posted its own report the same evening.
The Wall Street Journal@WSJBreaking: Nvidia’s board is preparing to oust CEO Jensen Huang, its founder and chief executive after he had two extramarital affairs, including one with a suspected Chinese spy. https://t.co/Pjsu5j87CF pic.twitter.com/7juwwhYNyN
Cramer wants Huang gone. Klein and Moorhead expect him to stay. Both readings rest on the same board meeting189.
What to do
Anyone holding Nvidia stock should watch two clocks at once. One clock is the board's own meeting, which could end with Huang's job intact or gone1. The other clock is Congress, which set Wednesday as Huang's deadline to respond7.
A reader weighing the stock itself should read both sides first. Cramer's extortion warning and Klein's confidence both come from people paid to judge Nvidia's risk, for different audiences89.
One more move belongs to anyone who sits on a corporate board. Nvidia built its defense on the first affair, then a second report upended it days later. A board's own timeline, counted from its first warning to its public statement, is now part of the story it tells shareholders56.
By the numbers
- 8.3 percent: Nvidia's after-hours stock drop once the Powell report and the board news both landed Wednesday3.
- $658 billion: Nvidia's market value lost since Nov. 6, across both affair reports3.
- Wednesday alone: $347 billion of that loss, landing after the close3.
- 13 days: the span from the Times' first report, Oct. 29, to the board news that followed15.
- Two: the House committees pressing Huang for a closed briefing by Wednesday's end7.
- $4 trillion: Nvidia's valuation going into this week's two reports1.
- 2008: the year Kimberly Powell joined Nvidia, now the executive named in the second report2.
What to watch
Watch whether Nvidia's board names a date for its decision. Huang's own response to Congress is due by Wednesday's end too7. The clearest signal arrives Nov. 17, at Nvidia's next earnings call, whoever leads the company by then4.
Sources
- Brendan Ruberry, "Nvidia board preparing to oust CEO Huang, WSJ reports," Semafor, Nov. 11, 2026, https://www.semafor.com/article/11/11/2026/nvidia-board-preparing-to-oust-ceo-huang-wsj
- "Jensen Huang accused of having another affair — with a Nvidia exec," TechCrunch, Nov. 11, 2026, https://techcrunch.com/2026/11/11/jensen-huang-accused-of-having-another-affair-with-a-nvidia-exec/
- "Nvidia Just Fell 8.3% After-Hours on a Report of a Second Jensen Huang Affair: Here's What $2,000 Shares Have Lost This Week," 24/7 Wall St., Nov. 11, 2026, https://247wallst.com/investing/2026/11/11/nvidia-just-fell-8-3-after-hours-on-a-report-of-a-second-jensen-huang-affair-heres-what-2000-shares-have-lost-this-week/
- "Nvidia shares rebound as Jensen Huang faces scrutiny ahead of earnings," CNBC, Nov. 11, 2026, https://cnbc.com/2026/11/11/nvidia-stock-jensen-huang-affair-china.html
- "Nvidia CEO Huang allegedly involved in a second affair with an Nvidia exec," Yahoo Finance, Nov. 11, 2026, https://finance.yahoo.com/technology/article/nvidia-ceo-huang-allegedly-involved-in-a-second-affair-with-an-nvidia-exec-221824237.html
- "Nvidia's trillion-dollar dilemma: Can it afford to lose CEO Jensen Huang?" CBS News, Nov. 11, 2026, https://www.cbsnews.com/news/jensen-huang-affair-nvidia-ceo-dilemma/
- "Congress to call Jensen Huang in to answer for alleged Chinese spy affair," TechCrunch, Nov. 11, 2026, https://techcrunch.com/2026/11/11/congress-to-call-jensen-huang-in-to-answer-for-alleged-chinese-spy-affair/
- "Jensen Huang affair in D.C.: Resignation calls and moves to tighten Nvidia China exports," CNBC, Nov. 11, 2026, https://www.cnbc.com/2026/11/11/nvidia-jensen-huang-congress-resign-ai-chips.html
- "Analysts say Nvidia CEO unlikely to be ousted over affair, but raise questions about company's future," Yahoo Finance, Nov. 11, 2026, https://finance.yahoo.com/technology/article/analysts-say-nvidia-ceo-unlikely-to-be-ousted-over-affair-but-raise-questions-about-companys-future-165238577.html
- The Wall Street Journal (@WSJ), "Breaking: Nvidia's board is preparing to oust CEO Jensen Huang...," X, Nov. 11, 2026, https://x.com/WSJ/status/2120645729555272025
- "Nvidia's Board Is Reportedly Preparing to Oust Jensen Huang. When Intel and McDonald's Pushed Out CEOs Over Workplace Relationships, Shareholders Got Opposite Results," 24/7 Wall St., Nov. 11, 2026, https://247wallst.com/investing/2026/11/11/nvidias-board-is-reportedly-preparing-to-oust-jensen-huang-when-intel-and-mcdonalds-pushed-out-ceos-over-workplace-relationships-shareholders-got-opposite-results/
