On the morning of Thursday, November 12, co-founder and long-time CEO of Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA) resigned from his post at the head of the blue-chip chipmaker, leading to an overall 11.33% stock price crash from $173.73 at the latest close to $153.77 less than an hour before the morning bell.
The decision came amidst rumors that the firm’s board was preparing to oust him in an emergency meeting scheduled to take place just days before the semiconductor giant was set to report earnings.
Additionally, Huang’s resignation came after the revelation that he had a second extra-marital affair came out on the afternoon of Wednesday, November 11, sending NVDA shares into an after-hours freefall after the regular session recovery.
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Why is Nvidia stock crashing over former CEO Huang’ personal life?
Notably, along with affecting the former CEO’s personal life, the cheating scandal might have an impact on U.S. national security, as one of his mistresses, Alice Huang, an executive at Megaspeed, is alleged to be a Chinese spy.
Simultaneously, the turmoil at the top of Nvidia also brought into focus the long-standing suspicion that the semiconductor giant was using a network of dubious companies across Asia to evade the American export restrictions on advanced artificial intelligence (AI) chips to China.
Though some observers and analysts had been alleging such wrongdoing since 2023 at the latest, the story received comparatively little traction up until the second weekend of November 2026.
Furthermore, Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick might have contributed to the scheme by failing to put Megaspeed on the list of restricted entities, despite reportedly being confronted with this lack of action by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.
What’s next for Nvidia stock after CEO Jensen Huang’s resignation
Looking ahead, it is difficult to gauge the exact fallout of the scandal and Jensen Huang’s resignation.
Dan Ives, for example, has expressed confidence that Nvidia will be able to weather the storm, though he also warned that, without the long-time CEO, his price target for NVDA stands at $225 rather than the more bullish $300 estimated for a case in which there is no leadership change.
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Others proved more critical, with Bernstein not only cutting its forecast by half from $400 to $200, but also expressing a vague sense that additional revelations are on the way.
Overall, volatility is likely to remain high at least until the November 17 earnings report is published, with the exact course of the quarterly event likely impacting the mid-term performance of Nvidia stock and the wider AI sector.
Featured image via Shutterstock
