- At the center of this vast financial flywheel is Huang, who has spent 33 years becoming synonymous with Nvidia – and Nvidia synonymous with the AI revolution.
- “This is not an ordinary CEO. This is not an ordinary company. This is not an ordinary sector. This is not an ordinary time,” economist Mohamed El-Erian wrote on X, warning of contagion to the AI industry.
Zoom: Just two weeks ago, the idea of Nvidia without Jensen was unthinkable.
- Even after his affair with an alleged Chinese spy was exposed, President Trump and the Nvidia board stood by him, Silicon Valley’s elite rallied to his defense, and betting markets suggested he would survive.
- It took revelations of a second affair – this time with a leader who reported directly to Huang – to shatter that consensus and bring his legendary reign to the brink of a brutal end.
Driving the news: After this second affair came to light on Wednesday evening, Nvidia’s board of directors reportedly met to resolve Huang’s fate, although no decision had yet been made as of early Thursday morning. The White House has been heard.
- Market reaction was brutal. Nvidia had already lost more than $1 trillion in market value since the scandal began, and shares plunged further overnight after hours and premarket.
- Analyst Dan Ives, one of Wall Street’s most prominent voices on technology, said Nvidia was worth 25% less without Huang.
Zoom out: Huang’s rise is the stuff of Silicon Valley legend: The Taiwanese immigrant went from cleaning toilets at a Kentucky boarding school and waiting tables at Denny’s to building one of the most valuable companies in history.
- Huang and two fellow engineers came up with the idea for Nvidia at a Denny’s booth in 1993, launching a chipmaker that would revolutionize gaming, transform modern computing and, ultimately, fuel the AI revolution.
- Wearing his famous black leather jacket, Huang became a global AI rock star – with a cult of personality that drew adoring crowds, calmed markets and captured the attention of world leaders.
The big picture: Huang’s apparent downfall comes amid growing concern about the future of the AI sector, as new financial, political and regulatory risks threaten one of the largest infrastructure projects in history.
- The timing is particularly difficult for Anthropic, whose historic IPO – backed by a $10 billion commitment from Nvidia – is shaping up to be a referendum on Wall Street’s confidence in the AI business.
- Huang has spent years defending the sector’s soaring valuations and dismissing warnings of a speculative frenzy. Now his own scandals could help burst the bubble he claimed didn’t exist.
What to watch: The blast radius could extend far beyond Silicon Valley and Wall Street, threatening to engulf the Trump administration in scandal over its handling of sensitive technology exports to China.
- Huang forged a close alliance with Trump and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, who eased restrictions on chip sales even as other officials raised concerns about Chinese espionage and smuggling.
- Top Senate Democrats are already demanding that Lutnick and other top officials keep records of their dealings with Nvidia and Huang, laying the groundwork for a thorough investigation.
The bottom line: As veteran China observer Bill Bishop wrote after Huang admitted his first affair: “There is rarely just one lie. »
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