SAN FRANCISCO, Nov 11 (Reuters) – Nvidia’s board is preparing to oust CEO Jensen Huang after he had two extramarital affairs, including one with a suspected Chinese spy, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday, citing people familiar with the matter.
The board is preparing to meet as soon as Wednesday to determine his future, the report added. Nvidia did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Reuters could not immediately verify the report.
Here are some reactions to the report.
JAKE DOLLARHIDE, CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, LONGBOW ASSET MANAGEMENT, TULSA, OKLAHOMA
“It looks bad from every single angle. I believe the board won’t oust him until they have an all-star, a known entity in the tech sector, to replace him… The board’s thinking, we have to have a home run at least as far as an interim CEO, if not, the permanent replacement.”
“At the end of the day, let’s not forget that the Nvidia chip is the centerpiece of the AI story. And so whether Jensen Huang’s around or not, it’ll continue to be the centerpiece of the AI story globally, but particularly here in the US. So, Nvidia will continue to be the absolute centerpiece of the AI universe as we know it.”
CHRIS WESTON, HEAD OF RESEARCH, PEPPERSTONE, MELBOURNE
“This is the man who’s got all the relationships … to the Chinese, Japanese, Koreans … one expects they’re going to bring someone in who has similar relationships and it’s going to be fairly seamless.
“It just means they do have a bit of a PR problem and potentially there could be some constraints from the government level. But the new person coming in isn’t going to derail their product suite.
“What you’re also seeing is a move higher in the after-hours prices in AMD and Broadcom. So, market share is clearly going to get picked up by those other producers.
“(And) if Trump or even the Democrats … had Nvidia under the spotlight and wanted to use Nvidia as a political pawn between China and the US, they have absolutely every reason now to go hard on them.”
GIL LURIA, MANAGING DIRECTOR, D.A. DAVIDSON & CO.
“Mr. Huang being removed immediately could be challenging for Nvidia since it does not have a succession plan in place. Investors would expect the board to live up to their fiduciary responsibility. If Mr. Huang broke the law or violated company policies, the board is likely to act as soon as they have proof.”
BRUCE ZARO, MANAGING DIRECTOR, GRANITE WEALTH MANAGEMENT, PLYMOUTH, MASSACHUSETTS
“Jensen was the one who has led the marvelous rise of Nvidia… he spearheaded that, but they have 42,000 employees, and I guess the question would be, can someone step up if Jensen has to resign or is forced out? Can someone step up and be the ambassador that he has been with the data centers? I guess that’s the question that will be answered in time.”
(Reporting by Caroline Valetkevitch, Tom Westbrook and Prathik Jayaprakash; editing by Peter Henderson)
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