The StepbackColumnAITechAn overview of Jensen Huang’s messy daysThings moved fast for the now-former CEO of Nvidia.by Terrence O’BrienNov 15, 2026, 1:00 PM UTCShareGiftIf you buy something from a link, The Verge may earn a commission. See our ethics statement. Image: Getty ImagesThe StepbackColumnAITechAn overview of Jensen Huang’s messy daysThings moved fast for the now-former CEO of Nvidia.by Terrence O’BrienNov 15, 2026, 1:00 PM UTCShareGiftIf you buy something from a link, The Verge may earn a commission. See our ethics statement.Terrence O’Brien is the Verge’s weekend editor.
He’s covered the tech industry for over 18 years and knows a thing or two about synths.This is The Stepback, a weekly newsletter breaking down one essential story from the tech world. For more on Jensen Huang’s resignation and the fallout from Nvidia’s leadership crisis, follow Terrence O’Brien. The Stepback arrives in our subscribers’ inboxes on Sunday at 8AM ET. Opt in for The Stepback here.On October 29th, The New York Times reported that Nvidia co-founder and showman CEO Jensen Huang appeared to be the target of a Chinese spy plot.
Any major tech CEO potentially being compromised by the Chinese government is concerning — especially Jensen Huang. “If you could draw the network diagram of the entire US AI ecosystem, Nvidia would be at the center of that,” Kyle Chan, a foreign policy fellow at the Brookings Institution’s John L. Thornton China Center, previously told The Verge. “If you could draw the diagram of the entire Nvidia ecosystem, a single man is standing at the heart of all of that.”The Times reported that Jensen Huang had developed a “close relationship” with Alice Huang (no relation), an executive at Singapore-based data center company Megaspeed. Alice Huang had been on the American government’s radar for some time, perhaps as early as 2024. Her company was investigated by the US Commerce Department over suspicions it was illegally smuggling Nvidia’s AI chips into China in violation of US government trade restrictions.
Singapore authorities confiscated her passport back in June of 2025, eventually barring her from the country, after she reportedly gave “inaccurate information” to police. And perhaps more concerningly, some US officials believed she was passing information, possibly about Nvidia’s designs or the White House’s deliberations over trade restrictions, directly back to Beijing.This made her relationship with Jensen Huang concerning for multiple reasons. Nvidia’s chips are considered crucial to America’s AI superiority and a matter of national security by the White House. The government has restricted the sale of Nvidia’s most advanced chips to China since the Biden administration.
But Jensen Huang has routinely pushed to loosen those trade restrictions. Meanwhile, he had gotten quite cozy with President Trump, once even putting him on speakerphone on-stage at the All-In Summit.Then last week, things escalated quickly.On Friday, November 6th, the Times reported that Alice Huang was specifically recruited by China’s Ministry of State Security to spy on Nvidia’s CEO. Though, there is some disagreement among US intelligence officials over the strength of evidence tying Alice Huang to Beijing. While the paper did not confirm it at the time, rumors suggested the “close relationship” between Jensen Huang and Alice Huang was romantic in nature.On Sunday, November 8th, Jensen Huang admitted to having an extramarital affair, but did not name the Megaspeed exec and alleged Chinese spy specifically.
Nvidia’s board announced that it was launching an investigation into its CEO shortly after.Many believed that Jensen Huang would survive the scandal. His company’s importance to America’s booming AI industry and his crucial role at the company seemed to make him nearly untouchable. He was, after all, the only CEO the company had ever known with no clear and obvious succession plan in place, and he sat atop an unusual corporate structure with around 60 direct reports. (These numbers are slightly outdated, but according to the Harvard Business Review, 10 to 20 is far more common among Fortune 500 companies, and Tim Cook reportedly had 17 in 2015, which was deemed “a lot” by Business Insider.)Then on Wednesday, November 11th, The New York Times reported that Jensen Huang had a second affair — this one with one of his direct reports, Kimberly Powell, Nvidia’s vice president of health care. Whether that was the last straw or if they were afraid it would be merely the tip of the iceberg, the board was ready to push Jensen Huang out, according to reports circulating that evening.
According to Bloomberg, he had accepted his fate Wednesday evening reportedly looking “broken and shattered” and telling people, “I’m a piece of shit.”On Thursday, November 12th, Nvidia announced that Jensen Huang had resigned as CEO of Nvidia.CFO Colette Kress was immediately named interim CEO, and acknowledged to employees that this has been an “extraordinarily difficult period.” Harvey Jones was also named the first board chair in the company’s history, already signaling there would be some changes to the corporate structure. In a memo to employees, Jones said the company would “search for a permanent successor looking at both internal and external candidates.”But the destabilizing impact was immediate. Nvidia’s stock closed at an all-time high of $239.24 on October 6th. It closed at $162.85 on November 13th.
It’s hard to overstate the importance of Nvidia to the US’s AI arms race with China, and the industry in general. The company has invested $99 billion in various AI labs, startups, and neo clouds. Plus has announced plans to mobilize over $500 billion in financing for building out AI data centers and other infrastructure.Even before Jensen Huang had resigned, Nvidia was already facing a shareholder lawsuit claiming the company had deceived investors. Jensen Huang and the company’s spokespeople insisted that the relationship with Alice Huang and Megaspeed was “completely normal and not unusual.” Only days later, Jensen Huang admitted to an extramarital affair that raised “national security concerns” without naming anyone specifically.
According to Reuters, Jensen Huang misled several Nvidia leaders, “including general counsel Tim Teter and chief marketing officer Alison Wagonfeld” about the nature of his relationship with Alice Huang.Many in the AI industry and Silicon Valley jumped to Jensen Huang’s defense. Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney called it a “sad day for NVIDIA, developers, America, and all humanity,” in a particularly hyperbolic post. Elon Musk said on X that it would “be an honor” to hire Jensen Huang. Many of Nvidia’s employees even voiced their support to “bring back THE boss,” on an internal post.Some even speculated that Jensen Huang was the victim of a vast conspiracy, whether that was a coup by some faction within Nvidia, or perhaps the goal of China all along had simply been to chase him from the CEO chair.By Thursday night, Reuters reported a third affair, this one also with an Nvidia employee, though no further information has emerged.First and foremost for Nvidia, it must find a new CEO.
It’s possible that Kress eventually ceases to be “interim” CEO, but other names, including Apple’s hardware chief Johny Srouji, have also been rumored. (Donald Trump believes they should hire Tim Cook, but to call that unlikely would be an understatement.)It’s also possible that Nvidia will undergo a dramatic reorganization. Whoever takes over as CEO is unlikely to keep the 60 direct reports of Jensen Huang. With a first-ever board chair in Jones, it’s also possible that the board of directors will play a larger role in the company going forward.The board’s investigation into Jensen Huang that began on November 8th is ongoing. The sca
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