Nvidia's board is preparing to remove CEO Jensen Huang, the Wall Street Journal reported on 11 November 2026, citing people familiar with the matter. Semafor confirmed the board was preparing to oust him and said directors were scheduled to meet on Wednesday evening (US time). According to Semafor, the full board had not made a decision. Nvidia has not announced anything about Huang's future, and the company had not commented at the time of the reports.
How it got here: on 8 November the board announced an independent investigation, led by a committee of independent directors with outside counsel, after reports that Huang had been the target of a foreign intelligence effort. Fortune reports that Huang admitted an affair with a woman whom "U.S. intelligence officials deemed to be a Chinese spy". The board said then that it had "no reason to believe" that national security or Nvidia secrets were compromised, and that it had confidence in Huang. On 11 November the New York Times reported a second relationship, with Kimberly Powell, Nvidia's vice president of health care, who reports to Huang. Semafor says the probe is led by the law firm Wachtell Lipton.
Markets: Nvidia shares fell more than 7% in after-hours trading, according to Fortune; Semafor says more than 8%, to a 52-week low. Huang co-founded Nvidia in 1993 and has led it for 33 years.
Who could follow him is open. Nvidia has no board chair, no chief operating officer and no clear succession plan, Fortune says. Semafor reports that some directors favour CFO Colette Kress as interim CEO, that Nvidia has hired a search firm for a permanent CEO (citing Bloomberg), and that Apple hardware chief Johny Srouji is reportedly being considered. None of this is confirmed by Nvidia.
