On November 8th, in a message sent to Nvidia employees, Jensen Huang acknowledged having been unfaithful to his wife. This relationship poses a problem far more serious than a private affair: according to the New York Times, US intelligence services suspect this woman, Alice Huang, CEO of Megaspeed, a Singapore-based client of Nvidia, of being a Chinese spy.

The same day, the board launched an independent investigation. It stated that it has no reason to believe any company secrets have leaked and assured that it has « trust in Jensen and his executive team ».

Three days later, the New York Times reveals a second relationship: Jensen Huang would have had an affair with Kimberly Powell, vice president in charge of healthcare at Nvidia, who reports to him. In the wake of this, the Wall Street Journal claims that the board is preparing to oust him. The directors met Wednesday evening, US time. Thursday morning, no decision had been announced, but the future of the co-founder within the company seems increasingly uncertain.

Jensen Huang in an interview with Lex Fridman. // Source : YouTube A company built around one person

Replacing a leader is always delicate. At Nvidia, it's a real headache, because the organization was designed so that everything goes through Jensen Huang. The co-founder set up a very flat structure: about sixty executives report directly to him, and he is at the center of most decisions. Nvidia has no operations director, the position that often serves as number two, and no successor has been designated.

The board of directors also functions differently. It has no president: Jensen Huang sets the agenda for meetings with the independent administrator, Stephen Neal, and it's the management team that prepares the information presented to the board members. For Jo-Ellen Pozner, a management professor at Santa Clara University, this model has ultimately prevented the emergence of potential successors.

Adding to this is Jensen Huang's flair. In 2006, with CUDA, he made it possible to use graphics cards for computing. A few years later, AI researchers adopted it to train their models. This bet contributed to making Nvidia the dominant supplier of AI chips. For many, it's not just a matter of luck: Jensen Huang is «

the person who has constantly identified where computing was going

», says Shay Boloor, strategist at Futurum Equities, speaking to Reuters. The two favorites: Colette Kress and Ian Buck

Nvidia has not named anyone.

But two names keep coming up among the analysts and investors surveyed.

Colette Kress, the emergency solution. Chief Financial Officer since 2013, previously with Microsoft, Cisco, and Texas Instruments, she accompanies Jensen Huang at every earnings presentation. She is known to the markets, making her the natural candidate for an interim role. According to Semafor, cited by Reuters, some board members might be in favor of her appointment as interim CEO. Her weakness: a financial profile, when Nvidia's advantage lies in its technology.

Colette Kress // Source : Nvidia

Ian Buck, the long-term candidate. Joined Nvidia in 2004 after a Stanford doctorate, he led the development of CUDA, the software that makes developers dependent on Nvidia chips. He now leads products aimed at large cloud and AI clients. For Shay Boloor, it's « the most solid internal candidate in the long term ». He is also the favorite of prediction markets, ahead of Colette Kress, even though the volumes there are low.

Ian Buck // Source : Nvidia

Several analysts imagine a compromise: a temporary co-leadership, with Colette Kress to stabilize finances and Ian Buck to steer technology and products.

Other leads, both internally and externally

Other names are circulating, with much less certainty.

• Stephen Neal, the reference independent director, could ensure the interim role according to business law experts cited by Fortune. This lawyer is a retired president of the Cooley firm.
• Jeff Fisher, who has been at Nvidia for 32 years, is among the names mentioned in speculation reported by Reuters.
• Rene Haas, CEO of Arm and a former employee of Nvidia, would be the most logical external candidate according to a semiconductor specialist bank consulted by Reuters.

The board is not limited to these names. According to Bloomberg, it is working with an external firm to identify potential successors. The two children of Jensen Huang, executives at Nvidia, have also been mentioned in the speculation. Johny Srouji, CEO of Apple's Silicon division, also appears as a possibility.

Nervous markets and a tight schedule

Investors have already reacted. On Wednesday, Nvidia's stock fell 8.6% after Wall Street closed. For the week, the company has lost approximately $60 billion in market value.

Not all analysts are as alarmist. The CUDA software ecosystem, the developer community, and Nvidia's hardware platform would remain in place with a new CEO. The real question is elsewhere: who will, like Jensen Huang, decide on the next technological bet and convince the entire industry to follow?

The coming days will be decisive. Nvidia will present its quarterly results on November 17, and will likely have to explain the future of its leadership. The next day, three House committee chairs want to hear Jensen Huang speak privately about his ties to Alice Huang.