Nvidia Board Preparing to Oust Jensen Huang After Affair Reports

Last updated: Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2026, 6:50 p.m. ET. This is a developing story and will be updated as Nvidia, Huang or Powell respond.

Update, Nov. 11, 6:50 p.m. ET: Nvidia's board of directors is preparing to oust Jensen Huang as CEO soon, CBS News reported, citing two sources familiar with the matter. The Wall Street Journal was first to report the board's moves. CBS said the Trump administration is aware of the matter. Nvidia shares fell more than 8%, to $159.51, in after-hours trading, and the company's market value has dropped more than $450 billion since it announced the probe into Huang on Nov. 8, CBS MoneyWatch reported. Nvidia has not announced a leadership change, and no successor has been named in those reports. Our original story on the Kimberly Powell report follows.

Nvidia's week got worse after the closing bell on Wednesday.

The New York Times reported that CEO Jensen Huang had an extramarital relationship with Kimberly Powell, Nvidia's vice president of health care and an executive who reports directly to him. Nvidia shares fell more than 3% in after-hours trading, CNBC reported. Axios put the drop at nearly 5%.

None of the people involved has confirmed the report. Nvidia declined to comment to the Times, and Powell did not respond, according to Axios.

What the New York Times reported about Jensen Huang and Kimberly Powell

The Times based its story on five people who worked at Nvidia, according to a summary by Investing.com. Huang is 63. Powell is 48. Both are married to other people, Axios said.

Two of those sources said the pair were seen being affectionate at a hotel in San Jose during GTC, Nvidia's big developer conference, in March. A bystander recorded the moment. Huang's security team then offered that person a nondisclosure agreement, per the Times as cited by Axios. Investing.com noted the Times has not seen the video itself.

When a reporter reached Huang about Powell, he did not answer the question. He ended the call after saying, "I don't think you should be talking to me directly," according to Investing.com's account of the Times story.

Who is Kimberly Powell?

Powell joined Nvidia in 2008 and has run its health care business for years. Her company bio, quoted by CNBC, says she's responsible for "the company's worldwide healthcare business, including hardware and software platforms for accelerated computing, AI, and visualization" used in medical imaging, life sciences, drug discovery and health care analytics.

That makes her a senior figure at Nvidia and a familiar face at its events. It also puts her in Huang's direct reporting line, which is why the report matters beyond gossip. Nvidia's code of conduct tells employees to avoid conflicts of interest, and it lists personal relationships as one example, the Times noted.

Why this is the second blow in a week

This is not the first relationship to put Huang under pressure this month.

On Oct. 29, the Times first reported that Huang had a "close relationship" with Alice Huang, a Megaspeed executive whom U.S. officials suspect of passing information to Beijing. She is not related to him. On Sunday, Nov. 8, Nvidia's board opened an independent investigation, and Huang wrote to staff: "I was unfaithful to my wife. My actions hurt her and our children. There is no excuse for what I did," as CNBC reported. We covered why Nvidia is investigating Huang when the probe began.

On Tuesday, Nvidia hired the law firm Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz to look into whether company secrets or national security were compromised, CNBC said. It hasn't said whether that review will now cover the Powell report.

Nvidia stock after the Kimberly Powell report

The timing was rough. Nvidia had just bounced. Shares rose 2.87% in Wednesday's regular session after falling 4.3% Monday and 5.47% Tuesday, CNBC reported. Part of that rebound came from a strong report from AI cloud firm CoreWeave; here's our story on CoreWeave's earnings jump.

Then the Times story hit, and the gains started slipping away in late trading.

Even before Wednesday night, the stock was down about 7% for the week and on track for a sixth straight weekly decline, CNBC said. Axios reported Nvidia has lost about $1 trillion in market value since Oct. 29. On Kalshi, the prediction market, the odds that Huang is out as CEO by Jan. 1 doubled after the new report, Axios said.

Analysts were already nervous. Morgan Stanley dropped Nvidia from its top-pick list on Wednesday and called Huang's leadership "crucial" to the company's direction. Bank of America's Vivek Arya laid out a worst case that included "leadership disruption," according to CNBC. Axios pointed out the obvious problem: Huang has no clear successor.

What we still don't know

A lot. Nvidia hasn't made a public statement on the Powell report. Powell hasn't spoken. It isn't known whether the board's committee will widen its investigation, or whether Powell's role will change.

After-hours prices can also move sharply by the next morning, so Thursday's open will be a better read on how investors take this.

What happens next for Nvidia

Two dates matter. Nvidia reports third-quarter earnings on Tuesday, Nov. 17. The next day, Nov. 18, is the closed-door briefing three House Republican committee chairmen asked Huang to attend. Expect both the earnings call and that briefing to be dominated by questions about his conduct and who, if anyone, is ready to step in.

This story is for general information and isn't investment advice.