Jensen Huang quits as Nvidia CEO as Singapore charges fifth suspect in server case

The resignation

Jensen Huang gave up the chief executive role at Nvidia on Wednesday, 11 November 2026, after weeks of denying accusations of infidelity and fighting to keep the job. Bloomberg, citing people who spoke with him before the decision, reported that he already appeared to regret his conduct and had begun to say he did not care about the outcome. Donald Trump had initially sided with Huang. According to the New York Times, Trump phoned him on Tuesday, 10 November, urging him not to resign, and on Thursday, 12 November, Trump named Tim Cook as his preferred successor.

The Alice Huang link

Reports of Huang's close ties to Alice Huang, a woman US authorities suspect of links to Chinese intelligence, surfaced in late October 2026, and he denied being unfaithful to friends and colleagues. The turning point came in early November, when a Financial Times article citing US officials confirmed the relationship was romantic. Tim Teter, Nvidia's legal adviser, then went to Huang's home to confront him, and Huang confessed. Reuters reported a third relationship, this one with another employee. CNN, citing several sources, wrote that there is still no definitive proof that Alice Huang was recruited by China's Ministry of State Security.

Singapore's server case

Singapore prosecutors have charged a fifth person in a case that began with arrests and trials in February 2025. The new defendant, a 34-year-old Singaporean man, faces 41 charges, including benefiting from criminal conduct, for buying servers from Aperia International over false purchase declarations. Aperia International and its parent, Aperia Group, are under investigation. Since July 2026, other executives of the Aperia group and of a second company, Luxuriate Your Life, have been sent to trial on fraud, fraudulent trading and money laundering. Bloomberg, citing documents, reported that 22 Dell servers containing Nvidia AI chips were sold to Aperia Cloud Service, a Singapore firm registered as an Nvidia partner, and the chips later passed to a Chinese company that Alice Huang founded in 2023 in Shanghai.

Singapore's dispute with Washington and Beijing's response

Singapore's Home Affairs Ministry said that, despite repeated requests since September 2025 to the US Department of Justice and the FBI, US authorities and the supplier Supermicro offered "limited cooperation" on the Megaspeed probe. The ministry also confirmed that Alice Huang received a formal stern warning and was barred from re-entering Singapore after giving investigators inaccurate information. Tgcom24 reported that Beijing is considering tighter sales of rare earths in response to proposed US limits on advanced chip exports. Victor Gao, vice president of the Center for China and Globalization, said using the case as leverage would be a serious error and would push China to strengthen its rare earth export controls. Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning reiterated opposition to indiscriminate export controls, and she warned that more US restrictions could harm global supply chains. Trump and Xi Jinping are due to meet at the APEC summit in Shenzhen.

The analyst who raised concerns earlier

On 13 May 2026, Christian Lamarco, a 31-year-old who runs a small financial research firm in New York, published a 40-page report on Nvidia's China ties. It raised concerns about chip exports, possible violations of US restrictions, and Huang's relationship with a Chinese executive. Wall Street largely ignored the report, and Nvidia shares reached a new record the following day. Since Huang's resignation, the report has circulated again.