Nvidia’s board of directors is preparing to remove chief executive Jensen Huang, according to reports first published by The Wall Street Journal after the US market closed on 11 November 2026 and followed by CBS News and Semafor, citing people familiar with the matter. Semafor reported that the full board had not made a decision. Nvidia had not announced any leadership change in the material Lens reviewed. The company is due to report results for its third fiscal quarter of 2027 on 17 November, after the market closes, with a conference call at 5 p.m. Eastern time, according to the company’s announcement as cited by Gotrade.

What has been reported

  • CBS News, citing two sources, reported that the board is preparing to oust Huang “soon” and that the Trump administration is aware of the matter. CBS said The Wall Street Journal was first to report the board’s moves.
  • Semafor reported that some board members favor chief financial officer Colette Kress as interim chief executive if Huang is removed, that directors were scheduled to meet on the evening of 11 November, and that the board briefed the White House on that meeting, according to a senior administration official.
  • Semafor also cited Bloomberg as reporting that Nvidia has hired an outside search firm to find its next chief executive.

How the week unfolded

On 8 November, Nvidia’s board said it had opened an independent investigation into reports that Huang “has been the target of a foreign intelligence effort,” and said it had no reason to believe national security or Nvidia’s secrets had been compromised. On 10 November, the independent directors said former acting US Attorney Joon H. Kim and the law firm Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz would lead the inquiry. Lens covered the start of the investigation in an earlier post.

In a message to employees, Huang wrote that he was “unfaithful to my wife,” according to CBS News. The New York Times reported allegations of a relationship with Alice Huang, a former executive of Singapore-based Megaspeed International, a large buyer of Nvidia hardware, whom US intelligence agencies believe was recruited by China’s Ministry of State Security, as summarized by CBS. She is not related to Jensen Huang. CBS also reported, citing two law enforcement sources, that the Justice Department is investigating Megaspeed over possible export-control violations; Megaspeed has denied involvement in illegal chip transfers. China’s foreign ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun called the “so-called Chinese spy narrative” baseless, according to CBS.

Semafor reported that the board’s preparations followed media reports of a second extramarital relationship. CBS said Nvidia faces a securities lawsuit alleging it failed to disclose information about the relationship to shareholders. Senators Chris Coons and Elizabeth Warren asked members of the Cabinet to preserve documents on Nvidia’s chip exports and on Huang, Semafor reported. President Donald Trump described Huang as a “very high-quality person,” according to CBS.

The share price

Nvidia closed at $168.89 on 10 November, down 5.5%, and at $173.73 on 11 November, up 2.87%, as chip stocks rose after CoreWeave’s quarterly results, according to Gotrade, citing Yahoo Finance and Nasdaq data. After the 11 November reports, the shares fell more than 8%, to $159.51, in after-hours trading, CBS reported. CBS said Nvidia’s market value had fallen by more than $450 billion since the investigation was announced on 8 November. Baird revised its view on the stock before the 11 November open, citing uncertainty over possible US government action and the chief executive’s tenure, according to Yahoo Finance as cited by Gotrade.

What Nvidia is due to report

  • Nvidia guided for third-quarter revenue of $108 billion, plus or minus 2%, and a gross margin of 74%, plus or minus 0.5 points.
  • In the second quarter of fiscal 2027, revenue was $96.2 billion, up 106% year on year, with $89.0 billion from data centers, according to Crypto Briefing’s summary of the results.
  • The company’s latest quarterly filing lists long-term supply and capacity agreements of $279 billion as of 26 July 2026, up from $119 billion a quarter earlier, according to Crypto Briefing.
  • TIKR put the analyst average for the following quarter’s revenue at about $124 billion.

Sources and notes

Sources: CBS News, 12 November and 11 November; Semafor, 11 November; Gotrade, 12 November and 11 November; Crypto Briefing earnings preview; TIKR. Lens did not read The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Bloomberg or Reuters reports directly, Nvidia’s quarterly filing, or the lawsuit. The reports on the board’s plans rely on unnamed sources, the allegations are unproven, and the situation was still developing when this was written. After-hours prices are not closing prices. Thumbnail photo: “2788-2888 San Tomas Expwy” by Coolcaesar via Wikimedia Commons, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0; cropped. Nvidia's headquarters campus at 2788-2888 San Tomas Expressway in Santa Clara, California, with its white steel canopy between the Endeavor and Voyager buildings. Illustrative photo.

Image: Lens chart built from the figures above. Thumbnail: Coolcaesar via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0).