Jensen Huang, CEO of NVIDIA, has abruptly resigned amid allegations of infidelity and connections to Chinese intelligence, marking the end of his 33-year tenure since co-founding the company in 1993.
On November 12, local time, Reuters reported that NVIDIA announced Huang's departure from both his executive role and the board of directors.
Until a new CEO is appointed, Colette Kress, the Chief Financial Officer (CFO), will serve as acting CEO. Harvey Jones, former CEO of semiconductor design software company Synopsys and a current NVIDIA board member, has been appointed as board chair.
Huang's resignation comes as allegations of infidelity and controversy regarding his ties to Chinese intelligence have intensified.
Previously, Huang acknowledged having an extramarital affair and apologized to his family and employees. Reports identified the other party as Alice Huang, a former executive at Singapore-based cloud company Megaspeed. U.S. intelligence agencies have raised concerns about Alice Huang's alleged connections to Chinese intelligence, although the Chinese government has denied these claims.
The NVIDIA board initiated an independent investigation on November 8 to determine whether Huang had become a target of foreign intelligence operations. At that time, the board stated there was no evidence suggesting a breach of national security or company confidentiality.
Following reports that Huang had also engaged in an extramarital relationship with a female executive at NVIDIA who reported directly to him, the controversy escalated. The New York Times reported that Huang had an inappropriate relationship with Kimberly Powell, vice president of NVIDIA's healthcare division.
The NVIDIA board convened on November 11 to discuss Huang's potential dismissal.
Since co-founding NVIDIA in 1993, Huang has led the company in transforming it from a graphics processing unit (GPU) specialist into a key player in the global artificial intelligence (AI) semiconductor market.
Following the news of his sudden resignation, NVIDIA's stock price plummeted by more than 10% in pre-market trading. Attention is now focused on how Huang's departure will impact NVIDIA's future management strategies and the global AI industry.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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