The crisis and the internal candidates
Nvidia is assessing a scenario that until recently seemed remote: a future without Jensen Huang. According to a report by the BBC, the co-founder and chief executive officer of the artificial intelligence chip group is at the center of a scandal linked to extramarital relationships, one of them with a woman suspected of being a Chinese spy. The board of directors is reportedly discussing whether to replace him. The stakes are high: Huang has led the company for more than thirty years, transforming it into the second-most-capitalized company in the world after Apple.
Among the internal names, Colette Kress stands out: chief financial officer and executive vice president, with more than thirty years of experience in the sector and previous senior roles at companies such as Cisco and Microsoft. Kress joins Huang on every earnings conference call and is described by eToro analyst Josh Gilbert as a familiar and credible voice for the market. Gilbert observes, however, that a definitive appointment is another matter, because a company with Nvidia's technological identity might prefer an engineer at the helm.
Veteran and technical figures also remain in contention: Chris Malachowsky, one of the three co-founders and the only executive of equal seniority to Huang, who played a central role in developing the company's computing technology; and Ian Buck, head of the high-performance computing business, among the pioneers of using graphics processors beyond gaming. According to Saxo's Charu Chanana, Buck could safeguard the technological advantage, but his ability to manage commercial relationships and geopolitical challenges would be subject to scrutiny. Huang's children work at Nvidia in executive roles, but they are considered relatively young and inexperienced.
The external options and the financial picture
According to Jun Bei Liu of Ten Cap, Nvidia might initially prefer an internal appointment and then look outside for a more stable solution. Among the external names floated by experts is Tim Cook, former Apple CEO and now chairman of the board, admired for his familiarity with managing global supply chains, although the same analyst doubts he would be willing to leave the Apple company. Liu and Chanana also cite Rene Haas, CEO of Arm Holdings, the British chip giant: he would have experience leading a publicly listed company and expertise in semiconductors, but Nvidia's business model is very different from Arm's, Chanana observes. Nvidia's processors are made with contributions from manufacturers such as TSMC, SK Hynix and Samsung.
On the markets side, several large investment firms have scaled back their forecasts for the group, a rare shift given investors' long-standing positive expectations. Stacy Rasgon of Bernstein Research has halved the price target on Nvidia shares, writing to investors that "our instinct tells us that we probably have not yet fully explored what could emerge" and adding: "We have had enough and would rather watch from the sidelines." For Ray Wang of Constellation Research, the crisis does not concern the entire AI sector so much as Nvidia itself, which will have to assess whether the person appointed will have the same appeal as Huang, because many partnerships and investments were built on trust in him. Liu concludes that Huang's departure appears to be a matter of time: it is no longer just about personal conduct, but about corporate governance, national security and trust in the leadership of one of the most strategically important companies in the world.
What remains to be verified
The BBC material does not confirm that the board has decided to replace Huang, nor does it indicate the timing or outcome of the discussion: the information about the board meeting is reported as unconfirmed. Official confirmations from Nvidia or from the person concerned about the personal matters at the center of the scandal are also unavailable, and the identity and position of the woman identified as a suspected spy remain to be clarified. The candidacies cited are analysts' assessments and not company announcements.
