Jensen Huang steps down as Nvidia CEO: a chronicle of the scandal involving an alleged Chinese spy

Resignation after a week of pressure

Nvidia confirmed in its filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission that on November 11, 2026, the board of directors accepted the resignation of co-founder and longtime CEO Jensen Huang. TechCrunch, which has been chronicling the scandal since November 11, reported this. The company will temporarily be led by CFO Colette Kress, who will retain her existing duties; a permanent successor is to be sought separately. For the first time in Nvidia's history, a chairman of the board has also been appointed — Harvey Jones, a partner at Square Wave Ventures and former CEO of Synopsys, who has served on the board since 1993.

What preceded the departure

The scandal began on October 29, when The New York Times reported on Huang's 'close relationship' with Alice Huang — a top executive at Singapore-based AI company Megaspeed, which, according to the publications, bought $4.8 billion worth of Nvidia chips over two years. US officials consider her a spy for China's Ministry of State Security; Nvidia at the time denied that the relationship went beyond ordinary work with a customer. On November 8, Huang admitted in an open letter to employees that he had cheated on his wife, whom he had been married to for 40 years, and said the board of directors had begun an independent investigation; the next day the stock fell more than 5%.

A second affair and a stock decline

On November 11, The New York Times, citing five former Nvidia employees, reported another extramarital affair — with Kimberly Powell, vice president of healthcare, who reports directly to Huang; Nvidia, Huang, and Powell did not confirm this. The same day, the Wall Street Journal reported that the board was preparing to remove Huang: the stock fell about 8% in after-hours trading and 11% over five days. Notably, Huang, by his own account, has about 60 direct reports, and the company had no obvious successor or succession plan — which explains the appointment of an interim CEO from among current executives.

The political dimension

On November 5, three Republican committee chairs — John Moolenaar, Brian Mast, and Rick Crawford — requested a closed briefing from Huang about 'significant national security threats' related to the PRC's access to American technology; on November 11, Moolenaar said that if Huang refused, he would likely be subpoenaed. Earlier, according to The New York Times, in the spring of 2026 a classified memo circulated in the Trump administration warning that Alice Huang was a spy; its preparation was overseen by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and Trump was informed of the surveillance back in late 2025 but did not act. Trump himself called Huang a 'wonderful man' on November 8 and supported keeping him in his post. Huang, a Trump ally, has repeatedly advocated expanding Nvidia's business in China — against this backdrop, the connections of Alice Huang's circle are also being investigated: Shanghai Century Litong, founded in 2023, according to The Information, facilitated the purchase of $7.5 billion worth of Nvidia chips, including ones banned from sale to China.