Elon Musk is ready to hire Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang even after WSJ, NYT reports of affairs, ouster — Check latest update
Billionaire Elon Musk has signalled that he is ready to hire Jensen Huang, even after reports of a second affair emerged and publications said Nvidia's board is considering ousting the founder.
In a reply on X (formerly known as Twitter), responding to user zerohedge on the platform, who suggested, “Elon, please hire Jensen”, the billionaire technocrat wrote: “That would be an honour” (sic)
Jensen Huang's position in one of the most consequential companies in the artificial intelligence (AI) boom is precarious following reports of affairs, including one with an alleged Chinese spy.
The board of the second-most valuable company in the world is preparing to oust its co-founder and CEO, Jensen Huang. According to The Wall Street Journal, the Nvidia board is set to meet as early as Wednesday (local time).
This followed US media reports claiming the executive was involved in another extramarital affair with a senior executive who reported to him. The New York Times (NYT) today said Huang had an affair with Nvidia's vice president of health care, Kimberly Powell.
This is the second affair allegation, as the Nvidia board was already conducting an independent investigation into the 63-year-old after he, in an email to employees, admitted to infidelity. Notably, United States intelligence agencies believe that the Chinese executive, Alice Huang, also known as Huang Le, with whom the Nvidia CEO had the affair, was a Chinese spy.
Notably, the tech giant's stock fell as much as 10% in post-market trading in New York on Wednesday, and 13% over five days. And if Nvidia’s post-market losses hold, it is set to slip below $4 trillion in market cap once cash trading resumes, Bloomberg reported.
Quick answers to key questions
•5 QUESTIONS
1
Did Elon Musk offer to hire Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang?⌵Musk replied “That would be an honor” after a user on X suggested he hire Huang. The article does not report a formal job offer.
2
Is Nvidia’s board preparing to remove Jensen Huang as CEO?⌵Media reports say the board is considering Huang’s future and working with an outside firm to identify possible successors. Nvidia had not confirmed that it would remove him.
3
What allegations have prompted scrutiny of Jensen Huang?⌵Reports allege that Huang had relationships with Alice Huang and Nvidia executive Kimberly Powell. Huang had also acknowledged infidelity in an email to employees, according to the articles.
4
What is Nvidia doing to find a successor for Jensen Huang?⌵Reports say Nvidia’s board is working with an outside firm to identify potential replacements and is weighing a temporary CEO while it searches for a permanent successor.
5
Why are Huang’s reported relationships raising concerns at Nvidia?⌵The reports have raised questions about the relationship with an executive who reportedly reported directly to Huang, as well as concerns about whether his relationship with Alice Huang could have put Nvidia’s trade secrets at risk.
Co-founder and CEO Jensen Huang has led Nvidia since its founding in 1993. With his position now uncertain and no succession plan in place, AFP reported that the “field is wide open for a variety of replacements” if his ouster goes through.
So, who are the potential candidates? The report noted that Nvidia could opt for an in-house, internal hire from among Huang's dozens of direct reports. Top names are Nvidia's Chief Financial Officer, Colette Kress; longtime Nvidia exec Ian Buck, who oversees the company's data centre clients; and Nvidia's vice president of applied deep learning research, Bryan Catanzano.
From his end, if ouster seems inevitable, Jensen Huang could position a family member as a replacement, the report added. Here, his daughter Madison Huang, currently the senior director of product marketing at Nvidia, is among the names most suggested by analysts.
His son Spencer Huang, director of product management in the company's robotics division, could also be a potential successor; or cousin, Lisa Su — longtime CEO of semiconductor giant AMD — could also be a viable candidate for selection, it added.
Tech reports have also tossed Rene Haas, CEO of UK chip design firm Arm, as another name in the ring.
(With inputs from Agencies)
Jocelyn Fernandes is a journalist and editor with nearly 13 years of experience covering the business, corporate, economy and markets beats in news.<br> As chief content producer for around three years at Livemint (Hindustan Times), Jocelyn publishes breaking stories, explainers, features and live blogs on a range of business and economy topics, including the Budget, corporate developments, stock markets, income tax, money and personal finance, cryptocurrency, government policy, impact of US tariffs, international developments and more.<br> Jocelyn's writing philosophy is focused on delivering news in an accurate and accessible format for readers. She thus focuses her news coverage on explainers and FAQs in order to breakdown business, corporate, economic, and policy topics that are of importance to everyday readers.<br> She holds a Bachelors in Mass Media (BMM) and Post Graduate Diploma (PGD) in Journalism and Communication and has previously written for online business and markets news site Moneycontrol (Network18), Business-to-business (B2B) trade publications — the industry magazines Power Today and Solar Today (ASAPP Media), and the national news agency United News of India (UNI).<br> Outside of work, Jocelyn keeps up-to-date with local and international news, enjoys reading fiction books, novels and short stories, and enjoys movies, travelling and art. <br> She can be found on X and LinkedIn, and reached by email: <a href="jocelyn.fernandes@htdigital.in">jocelyn.fernandes@htdigital.in</a> <br> X/ Twitter handle: <a href="https://x.com/scribeJocelyn">@scribeJocelyn</a> <br> LinkedIn: <a href="https://in.linkedin.com/in/jocelyn-fernandes-journalist">LinkedIn</a>
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