Jensen Huang resigns as Nvidia CEO amid espionage probe and affair reports

Huang steps down as chief executive

Jensen Huang resigned as Nvidia's chief executive on Thursday, 12 November, ending 33 years at the chipmaker he co-founded. The board thanked him for his service and said his contribution to the company's growth could not be measured. Colette Kress, the company's executive vice president and chief financial officer, took over as interim CEO. Before joining Nvidia, Kress spent almost 25 years in finance roles at large technology companies, including Cisco and Microsoft. Huang's exit followed reports that he had an extramarital affair, which he has acknowledged, although it is not known when the relationship began or how long it lasted. Other reports referred to relationships with two other women who are Nvidia executives.

Espionage allegations

The woman at the centre of the case, a Chinese national, reportedly was recruited by Chinese intelligence and is suspected by US agencies of espionage on Beijing's behalf. CNBC, citing an exclusive investigation by the private intelligence firm Tesari, reported that Huang held equity ties to companies linked to Huawei, Nvidia's largest rival in China, while he was still running Nvidia. Tesari specialises in national security investigations and works for private companies and the US government. The findings raise questions about what Huang knew of his partner's close business ties to Nvidia's main competitor in China. The affair's start date and duration remain unknown.

Trump's role and the White House

Donald Trump phoned Huang on Tuesday, 10 November, shortly before the resignation, and urged him to keep fighting for his job, according to two people briefed on the call cited by the New York Times. The paper reported that Trump had been told at least twice about the relationship, first in late 2025 and again in spring 2026, but took no action. He also took Huang along on a trip to China in May. Advisers said Trump viewed the matter mainly as an affair rather than a national security threat, and regarded Nvidia as too big to fail because a leadership exit could shake stock markets. In a Truth Social post, Trump praised Huang's work and called him a 'legend'.

Market and congressional fallout

Nvidia shares fell 4.34% on the day of the resignation, wiping out about $182 billion of market value. The stock is 30.5% below its record high of 6 October, a decline the source puts at about $1.76 trillion in market value. Three House committees have summoned Huang for closed-door depositions. The Senate Banking Committee chairman has asked Huang and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick to testify about serious national security concerns.

Lutnick and the export blacklist

Senior White House officials are debating whether to remove Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, two sources told Reuters. Lawmakers criticise him for keeping dozens of Chinese firms off a US trade blacklist and for not doing enough to limit AI chip shipments to China. Reuters reported in June that the administration had held off adding DeepSeek, memory chipmaker CXMT and more than 100 other firms flagged as national security risks. The list has received no additions since October 2025, the longest gap in more than a decade. Senators Elizabeth Warren and Chris Coons wrote to Lutnick, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and White House chief of staff Stephen Miller asking them to preserve all records on Nvidia chip exports to China. Earlier on Thursday a White House spokesperson said Trump maintained complete confidence in Lutnick.

Wider industry exposure

Under Huang, Nvidia became a major financier of the AI sector, making more than 120 investments since the start of the year, roughly one every two and a half days, according to the Financial Times. Huang personally handled many of the deals, including a guarantee of up to $105 billion in rent and power payments for OpenAI's data centre complex in Ohio. Nvidia also plans a $10 billion private placement in Anthropic. The FT said Huang's departure threatens a web of financial dependencies that holds the AI ecosystem together.