Nvidia has hired headhunters to find a replacement for Huang. Among the candidates is a top Apple executive.

Nvidia's board of directors has hired an outside executive search firm to find a potential replacement for the chipmaker's founder and CEO, Jensen Huang, Bloomberg reported, citing a source. According to The Wall Street Journal, the board is preparing to remove Huang following reports of two extramarital affairs, including one with an alleged Chinese spy. One of the candidates for his position is Apple’s head of hardware, Johnny Srouji, who was considered for the role of Intel CEO in 2019, according to a source speaking to Semafor.

While the search for a permanent CEO is underway, the board is discussing the appointment of an interim CEO, a Bloomberg source added. Some board members would like Nvidia CFO Colette Kress to take over the position if Huang steps down, Semafor reports, citing sources. However, the board as a whole has not yet made a decision: its meeting was scheduled for the evening of November 11, U.S. time, the publication notes.

Boards of directors can spend hours discussing the fate of a company’s CEO, and the lack of news does not necessarily mean that a decision has not yet been made, Bloomberg reporters note. Even a decision that has been made may not be announced until much later due to negotiations over the terms of departure and the preparation of the announcement, they add.

It’s not easy for the board to remove the company’s CEO, according to Bloomberg. Huang is the founder and the only CEO in Nvidia’s history, and under his leadership, the company’s stock has risen by more than 700,000%. But if he remains in his position, Nvidia will likely face a barrage of questions from lawmakers, investors, customers, and employees.

Nvidia's board of directors informed the White House of the planned meeting, Semafor reported, citing a senior administration official. On November 11, Democratic Senators Elizabeth Warren and Chris Coons asked the Secretary of Commerce, the Secretary of State, and the White House Chief of Staff to ensure the preservation of documents regarding Nvidia’s chip shipments to China or to companies capable of diverting them there. This also includes materials related to Huang and the alleged spy, as well as his correspondence with Trump.

Alice Huang, the alleged spy, was a top executive at Singapore-based Megaspeed International, one of Nvidia’s largest clients in Southeast Asia. U.S. authorities have been investigating this company for several months in connection with possible chip smuggling, Bloomberg reports. According to media reports cited by senators, officials at the White House, the State Department, and the Department of Commerce “were aware of concerns” regarding Nvidia, its ties to Megaspeed, and the alleged Chinese intelligence operation, but “did not block” further shipments of advanced AI chips. Megaspeed and Nvidia deny any wrongdoing, while Beijing denies the allegations of espionage against Jensen Huang.

On November 11, Nvidia shares fell 8.6% in after-hours trading on the Nasdaq compared to the regular session’s closing price, dropping to $158.8 and falling below their 52-week low. On the U.S. over-the-counter platform Blue Ocean, by 09:24 on November 12, Astana time, the decline had narrowed to 7.3% ($161.1).

Competitors' stocks rose in after-hours trading: AMD shares were up 4.3%, chipmaker Broadcom's shares were up 2.4%, and Google's parent company Alphabet's shares were up 0.3%. Investors expect these companies to be able to take a share of Nvidia’s business, according to Bloomberg.

AMD, Nvidia's closest competitor, is trying to gain ground on Nvidia in the rapidly growing market for AI chips. The world's largest memory manufacturer, Samsung Electronics—which expanded its partnership with AMD in the field of artificial intelligence in March—could also benefit from Nvidia's challenges, according to Bloomberg.

This article was AI-translated and verified by a human editor