Nvidia is heading in the right direction to shed round $270billion in market worth after its shares plunged amid claims CEO Jensen Huang had an affair with a Chinese language spy.
An inner probe by the corporate adopted a media report that Huang had an in depth relationship with Chinese language businesswoman Alice Huang who allegedly handed info to Beijing.
Huang informed Nvidia’s staff that he had been untrue to his spouse, with out disclosing particulars of the connection.
The investigation, introduced on Sunday, has put a highlight on Huang’s future given Nvidia’s standing because the world’s most useful chipmaker and the CEO’s position as probably the most prolific salesman of the AI growth.
The leather-jacketed Huang enjoys rock-star standing worldwide, significantly in Asia, the place he typically mingles freely with followers, taking selfies and signing autographs for his devoted followers.
The fallout from the probe prolonged to South Korea, the place Madison Huang, Huang’s daughter and an Nvidia govt, cancelled a deliberate go to to Seoul for an Nvidia convention that was set to start on Monday, in keeping with corporations she had been scheduled to fulfill.
Nvidia’s shares tumbled greater than 6 per cent in Frankfurt buying and selling, extending final week’s selloff and pushing the inventory to contemporary multi-month lows.
At these ranges, the chipmaker stood to lose about $270billion from its closing worth on Friday, in keeping with a Reuters report citing LSEG Datastream.
Photos posted to LinkedIn by the corporate NetThunder confirmed the Nvidia boss and Ms Huang collectively in a bar in Taipei, Taiwan, in June 2024
‘The market’s most likely telling you now this does no favors to the inventory in any way in a time when there’s loads of conjecture as to the build-out of knowledge facilities,’ mentioned Chris Weston, head of analysis at brokerage Pepperstone in Melbourne, Australia.
However Mr Weston mentioned he didn’t assume Huang, whom he described because the ‘godfather of AI’, would get replaced.
‘If we genuinely thought he was going to step down… the inventory could be down – it will be an absolute massacre, to be sincere,’ he mentioned.
The New York Instances reported final month that Huang had a relationship with Alice Huang, an unrelated former govt of Singapore-based firm Megaspeed, who US authorities investigated and concluded was a Chinese language intelligence asset.
‘The so-called Chinese language spy narrative is only a groundless accusation, slander, and a smear,’ Chinese language Overseas Ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun informed reporters in Beijing.
Megaspeed didn’t reply instantly to a request for touch upon Monday, a public vacation in Singapore.
Alice Huang didn’t reply to the New York Instances final month when it first reported her relationship with Huang.
The pair had been photographed collectively at a bar in Taipei, Taiwan, in June 2024, the place Huang was seen carrying his trademark black leather-based jacket and having fun with whiskey with different know-how executives.
Alice Huang sat beside him throughout the gathering, which adopted a know-how commerce present. Images had been subsequently shared on LinkedIn by know-how firm NetThunder.
They had been reportedly seen collectively once more in Might 2025, leaving a restaurant in Taipei after a dinner attended by AI suppliers.
Shares in Nvidia’s key Asian chip suppliers TSMC, Samsung Electronics and SK hynix rebounded on Monday after final week’s selloff of AI-related shares. TSMC shares jumped 6.5 per cent, whereas these in Samsung and SK hynix climbed 2.9 per cent and 4.7 per cent, respectively.
Some outstanding figures weighed in on Huang’s admission. Billionaire investor Invoice Ackman, founding father of Pershing Sq. Capital Administration, mentioned on X that the Nvidia CEO was an ‘unimaginable human’, but when ‘certainly that is greater than an affair, then it’s clearly an actual drawback’.
‘I’m hoping for a easy affair, not a danger to our nationwide safety,’ he added.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk commented, ‘I agree’ on a put up by Sequoia associate Shaun Maguire that mentioned Huang ‘did one thing extremely dumb’ that was ‘dangerous for America’ however that ‘Jensen is irreplaceable for America’s AI management’.
US President Donald Trump mentioned on Sunday he had not spoken to Huang in regards to the allegations, however known as him a wonderful individual. ‘I hope every thing’s wonderful. He is executed such an unimaginable job,’ he added.
When requested if he believed he ought to have acted on intelligence when he was briefed about it, Mr Trump mentioned: ‘No, I do not assume so. I believe he is an honorable man. I believe he most likely has an excuse for it. You need to hear it.’
The New York Instances reported that Mr Trump was briefed in regards to the intelligence findings roughly a yr in the past and selected to not do something with the data.
The reported intelligence findings have now sparked calls for for solutions on Capitol Hill.
Republican congressmen Brian Mast, John Moolenaar and Rick Crawford, who chair three highly effective Home committees, have requested Huang to attend a closed-door briefing on November 18.
Jensen Huang and his spouse Lori Huang are pictured at an award ceremony in April 2026
Jensen Huang, heart, and his spouse attend a state dinner hosted by US President Donald Trump for Chinese language President Xi Jinping
Jensen Huang spoke alongside Mr Trump about investing in America on the White Home in April 2025
The lawmakers need to query him about his interactions with Alice Huang and the measures Nvidia has carried out to guard itself towards overseas espionage.
Madison Huang had initially deliberate to go to South Korean AI startup Rebellions and maintain a question-and-answer session with Kakao Mobility.
Rebellions mentioned the occasions had been cancelled as a result of ‘unavoidable inner circumstances at Nvidia’.
Nvidia AI Day Seoul, a two-day occasion anticipated to attract about 2,000 individuals to debate bodily AI, agentic AI and infrastructure, will proceed as deliberate, in keeping with South Korean media. Nvidia didn’t reply instantly to a request for remark.
Analysts mentioned a chronic investigation or inner assessment may doubtlessly delay Nvidia’s funding selections or product launches, with broader implications for the semiconductor trade.
Ryu Younger-ho, a senior analyst at NH Funding & Securities, mentioned Nvidia’s rivals, together with Superior Micro Gadgets (AMD), may entice larger consideration within the quick time period, doubtlessly placing Samsung – which has shut enterprise ties with AMD – within the highlight.
Nonetheless, he mentioned Nvidia’s merchandise could be tough to exchange, limiting the potential influence, though shipments to China may face additional delays relying on how the state of affairs developed.
South Korea’s deputy science minister, Koo Hyuk-chae, mentioned on Monday the federal government anticipated no disruptions to contracted deliveries of Nvidia graphics processing items regardless of points at the moment dealing with the corporate.
