Nvidia Corp. shares fell in premarket trading after the company’s board launched an investigation into Chief Executive Officer Jensen Huang. | Photo Credit: OBTAINED BY REUTERS
The stock was down about 6 per cent in early trading before the opening bell, while shares in Nvidia’s Asian suppliers shrugged off the news, largely tracking the broad rebound in stateside peers on Friday.
The revelation threatens to weigh further on shares of the bellwether artificial intelligence chipmaker, following its steep selloff since last month on concerns over financing for Big Tech spending and the impact of US midterm elections.
While Nvidia board’s probe “raises key-man risk,” it shouldn’t alter near-term revenue, margin or product ramp-up estimates, Bloomberg Intelligence’s Kunjan Sobhani wrote in a note. “His unusually central role in strategy, customer relationships and operations, combined with the lack of a clear, public successor, could increase headline risk and stock volatility,” Sobhani said.
The new crisis started over the weekend, after Huang admitted in an internal staff memo that he was unfaithful to his wife and apologized to employees, prompting the firm’s board of directors to act. Their probe follows reports that Nvidia’s leader had been targeted by former Megaspeed International executive Alice Huang, who is suspected of spying for China by US intelligence agencies.
President Donald Trump called the Nvidia CEO a “fine person,” and said he should stay on as leader of the chipmaker. Nvidia’s board said it has “no reason to believe” that either national security or the company’s secrets were compromised.
Nvidia’s stock is down about 22 per cent from its October high. The internal inquiry casts a rare cloud of leadership uncertainty over the company, just days before it’s scheduled to report quarterly earnings on Nov. 17.
While Nvidia’s core business is expected to remain strong, analysts warned that any distraction at the top could create an overhang for the stock that has been the anchor of the global AI trades.
Published on November 9, 2026
