Nvidia board prepares to oust Jensen Huang, WSJ reports, as shares fall 8%

In short

• The Wall Street Journal reported on 11 November 2026 that Nvidia's board is preparing to oust CEO Jensen Huang after two extramarital affairs.
• Directors planned to meet as soon as Wednesday 11 November to decide Huang's future; no decision has been announced and he remains CEO.
• Nvidia shares fell more than 8% in extended trading after the report, according to Reuters.
• Nvidia's independent directors have retained Joon H. Kim and Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz to investigate; Q3 results are due on 17 November.

Nvidia designs the graphics chips and artificial intelligence accelerators that power most of the world's AI computing. Huang co-founded the company in 1993 and has run it since, becoming the public face of the AI boom. The Journal's report landed after a week in which Huang's private life became a boardroom and national security matter.

Nvidia designs the graphics chips and AI accelerators that power most of the world's artificial intelligence computing. Huang co-founded the company in 1993 and has run it since, becoming the public face of the AI boom. The Journal's report landed after a week in which Huang's private life became a boardroom and national security matter.

US intelligence officials believe Alice Huang, an executive at Singapore-based data company Megaspeed and a major Nvidia customer, works for China's intelligence services, according to the reports, and Beijing has rejected the espionage allegation. Her affair with Jensen Huang was reported earlier. Nvidia's board has said Huang "has been the target of a foreign intelligence effort". A second affair, with an Nvidia employee, was reported earlier by The New York Times and is attributed by the Journal to a person familiar with the matter. Neither Huang nor Nvidia has confirmed it.

On 8 November, Huang wrote in a memo to staff: "I was unfaithful to my wife... There is no excuse for what I did. I am deeply sorry." He did not name anyone. The same day, Nvidia's board said it was opening an independent investigation, adding that it had "no reason to believe that either national security or NVIDIA secrets were compromised" and that it had "confidence in Jensen and his leadership team". On 10 November, the independent directors said they had retained Joon H. Kim, a former acting US attorney for the Southern District of New York, and his firm Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz to run the investigation.

How would Nvidia remove its CEO?

Nvidia's bylaws let a majority of directors remove the CEO with or without cause, according to Reuters. Nvidia has 11 directors, and all but Huang are considered independent. Reuters reported that the board was meeting late on Wednesday 11 November, and the Washington Post carried a similar account. Bloomberg, citing a person familiar with the matter, reported that the board has been working with an outside firm to identify possible replacements and is weighing naming a temporary CEO. Semafor reported that some directors favour appointing chief financial officer Colette Kress as interim CEO, that "the full board has yet to make a decision", and that the board briefed the White House, according to a senior administration official. None of these accounts presents a successor as settled.

What the reports mean for Nvidia investors

Nvidia shares fell more than 8% in extended trading after the Journal's report, according to Reuters, and Semafor said the stock hit a 52-week low. Yahoo Finance put the after-hours price at about $158 a share, against a close of $173. Poland Insight reported a fall of more than 3% in after-hours trading on Wednesday 11 November, after The New York Times reported the second alleged relationship; Bloomberg, via Yahoo News, citing the Times, said that report rested on unidentified people who had worked at the company.

How investors and tech figures reacted on X

• The Wall Street Journal (@WSJ) said on X that the company's board was moving to remove founder and chief executive Jensen Huang, after two extramarital affairs, one of them with a woman suspected of spying for China.
• Tim Sweeney (@TimSweeneyEpic) said on X that removing Huang would be "an Apple firing Steve Jobs level of idiocy" and "a grievous harm to the United States of America".
• Amjad Masad (@amasad) said on X that the timing of the story was suspicious and asked "who benefits and why now?".Sunny41 (@Sunny41_PCH) said on X that The New York Times report on the second affair rested on anonymous sources and a video nobody has seen, calling it bad journalism.

What the board's next move means for Nvidia holders

Elahi (@thealphacfo) said on X of the share fall: "Was it worth tanking the stock … they are adults."

What happens next for Jensen Huang and Nvidia

If you own Nvidia shares or hold them through an index fund, your exposure is to whatever the board decides and to the 17 November results, not to the reports themselves. Watch Nvidia's own newsroom and its filings with the US Securities and Exchange Commission for a board statement or an 8-K, the form companies use to disclose major events to investors. The risk the notes describe is uncertainty: the ouster plan rests on unnamed sources, the second affair is unconfirmed by Huang or Nvidia, and no replacement has been named.

The board's meeting was set for late on Wednesday 11 November US time, and no outcome had been reported. Nvidia's third-quarter results are due on 17 November US time, and the independent investigation led by Joon H. Kim and Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz is under way.

Key numbers

Timeline

• 8 Nov 2026: Huang tells staff he was unfaithful; board opens independent investigation
• 10 Nov 2026: Independent directors retain Joon H. Kim and Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz
• 11 Nov 2026: WSJ reports board is preparing to oust Huang; shares fall more than 8% after hours
• 17 Nov 2026: Nvidia third-quarter results due, US time

Questions readers ask

Has Nvidia's board removed Jensen Huang as CEO?

No. Nvidia's board was preparing to meet as soon as Wednesday 11 November 2026 to decide Jensen Huang's future, according to The Wall Street Journal, and no decision had been announced. Huang remains CEO. Nvidia's bylaws allow a majority of directors to remove the CEO with or without cause, Reuters reported.

What is the investigation into Jensen Huang about?

Nvidia's board opened an independent investigation after reports that Jensen Huang had been the target of a foreign intelligence effort, tied to his affair with Alice Huang, an executive at Megaspeed whom US intelligence officials suspect of working for China. The board said it had no reason to believe national security or Nvidia secrets were compromised. Beijing denies the espionage claim.

What should Nvidia shareholders watch next?

Watch Nvidia's newsroom and its filings with the US Securities and Exchange Commission for a board statement or an 8-K. Nvidia's third-quarter results for its 2027 financial year are due on 17 November US time. The ouster plan rests on unnamed sources, the second affair is unconfirmed by Huang or Nvidia, and no replacement has been named.

Our view

At InvestIn.News, we think the story to follow is the process, not the rumour. The Wall Street Journal's account of a board preparing to remove Jensen Huang rests on people familiar with the matter, and Nvidia has said nothing about it. Until directors act, Huang is the chief executive, and readers should treat the ouster as a plan reported, not a decision taken.

The board has shown it will move carefully. On 8 November it opened an independent investigation and said it had "confidence in Jensen and his leadership team"; two days later it brought in Joon H. Kim and Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz. That is the sequence of a board protecting the company, and it deserves the same weight as the leaks.

The second affair, reported by The New York Times, has not been confirmed by Huang or Nvidia, and no successor has been settled. Semafor's report that some directors favour Colette Kress as interim CEO is a preference, not an appointment.

A board statement, an 8-K filing or the 17 November results would settle the question. Until one of them lands, the honest answer is that Nvidia's leadership is in play.

How we reported this: this story draws on reporting by The Wall Street Journal, Poland Insight and Yahoo Finance and 7 public posts shown in the story. Each source is linked in the text and listed under Sources.

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Ishu Aggarwal

What to watch: Nvidia's board was due to meet late on Wednesday 11 November US time, and the company's third-quarter results are due on 17 November US time.