Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang is leaving the company he co-founded 33 years ago, according to the report. The board has named Chief Financial Officer Colette Kress interim CEO and appointed Harvey Jones as chairman. The report says Huang's exit followed two reported extramarital affairs, one involving an alleged Chinese spy and another involving an employee.
The report says the board has launched an investigation into the CEO's behavior and potential national security implications. It says U.S. intelligence identified one of the women as having been recruited by China's Ministry of State Security to gather information on Huang, according to people briefed on the intelligence. Nvidia has not responded to multiple requests for comment.
The report describes the company's stock as on pace for its sixth straight weekly drop, which would be its longest losing streak since 2012. It attributes a 9% slump last week partly to the midterm elections and ballot measures that could slow the buildout of new data centers. Analysts project Nvidia's quarterly revenue at $109.2 billion, up 92% year over year, according to LSEG. The company reports results on Tuesday.
The report says Huang made key decisions on how, when and where GPUs are allocated, and that some project finance deals depend on his sign-off. It quotes former Cisco CEO John Chambers saying, "How they handle this will determine if they're a great company and a great leadership team beyond one person."